It’s been six months since I first started freelancing part
time. I’m really enjoying it and feel very blessed to be in this position. Here
are my reflections on the last six months…
- People’s reactions – Freelancing seems to have this weird perception of being a phantom job. ‘Have a nice long weekend! ‘You don’t work Fridays do you?’ Actually yes, sometimes I work many hours on a Friday! I’m also my own Accounts department, Marketing team and boss!
- Having said that I love the flexibility I have, particularly at the moment. I can move things around so I don’t have to fit appointments in around my Monday-Thursday job and plans on the weekend. I also love a breakfast or lunch date to remind me to actually take a break.
- I love working exactly how I like to work. Usually this is with the radio blaring or from the garden in the summer!
- Negotiating rates for your work is difficult when you have little self-worth – it can be tempting to be like ‘I’m shit! Don’t worry I’ll do it for free!'
- Quantity and Quality - I’ve actually had more work than I thought I would at this stage and I’m loving it. I love the variety too – I’ve written about everything from garages to self-care!
- Adding another string to my bow - I’m really interested in people that have many strings to their bow, and always wanted to be one of them. So I love being able to say ‘I do this Monday-Thursday and Freelance on Fridays’. Emma Gannon (a real inspiration to me!) writes about this in her book The Multi Hyphen Method – which is on my Christmas list!
- It’s all down to me, which is a pretty scary concept in some respects, but in others, if I don’t get what I need to done, the only person it will effect is me. This weirdly motivates and calms me! Having worked in really toxic environments before, it’s great to have complete control. I’ve also got the security of my Monday-Thursday job so there’s not too much pressure at the moment, although of course I’d love to do more freelance days in the future.
Do you have any advice for me on my freelance journey? Let
me know!
Or maybe you even want to work with me! Contact me here.
Look out for my blog post in January to find out my Freelance New Year’s Resolutions!
