Becoming a freelancer is not as easy as you think. Sure, you don’t have a boss, you don’t have terrible workmates to endure, and you have your time to yourself. You might even earn a good amount of money compared to your previous job. However, all those advantages also come with disadvantages.
For one, freelancing means you’re going solo. Working alone can get lonely sometimes. When most people feel isolated, they don’t feel as productive as they are when they’re working with someone, even if that someone is annoying.
Another disadvantage of freelancing is that there are lots of distractions. From your pet cat brushing its body onto your leg, to the noisy neighbors, and cool TV shows you didn’t get to watch previously, the distractions are endless. It’s easy to get carried away with a lot of things happening around you.
Still, think the freelancing way is best for you? Here are ten more things to know before deciding that the path of the freelancer is genuinely for you.
1. It’s Not That Easy
People often mistake freelancing is an easy job. They don’t know that there are risks involved with it too. What if a client doesn’t pay up? What if you don’t get to hit your quota? What if I get tired of everything and decide to go back to a lesser-paying office-based job? These questions and a lot more often boggle the minds of freelancers all the time.
2. It’s Emotionally Rewarding
If you do weather through all the stress involved with being a freelancer, you’ll handsomely get rewarded for your efforts. Imagine having the money to spend on yourself and your family. You get to spend time your way, which is one of the most critical advantages that freelancing offers.
3. Creativity Matters
Most of the time, freelancers think a lot and imagine a lot. It’s not a bad thing to do all the time, but freelancers need all the critical thinking and creativity they get to get their jobs done. Most tasks that freelancers engage in are writing, designing, creating, etc.
4. Creativity Can Go Away
It’s a terrifying truth that every experienced freelancer has: Having nothing in the think-tank. Thankfully, having a hard time with creativity is temporary. Don’t overwork yourself. Schedule a day for you to recuperate and relax to refill your creativity.
5. It’s Lucrative
Freelancing can rake in profits if you really work hard. Freelance writers often make $60,000 a year. Logo creators and Image/Video editing freelancers earn more than $70,000. As you can see, freelancing pays just as well or even more than an office job.
6. It’s Lonely
Most of the time, freelancers work alone. Even if freelancers work with a team, they often communicate through mobile phones and messaging apps like Skype or WhatsApp. Human contact is rare among freelancers.
7. You’ll Become Responsible
A challenge that most freelancers face is the distractions. However, a missed payment or a week without salary due to laziness will tell how a freelancer should organize his life. Freelancing doesn’t teach you responsibility; it forces you to become responsible.
8. Stressful
Freelancing is stressful. What if you don’t hit a quota? What if you enjoy your free time too much? What if you don’t get to earn enough to pay the bills this month? What if you get fired? Nothing is safe from stress, and that includes freelancers.
9. You’ll Discover Yourself More
Since you have more time for yourself, freelancing can actually help you discover yourself. You’ll get to know more because you’re continually thinking, and the lack of human contact often leaves you on your own.
10. You’ll Know Your Worth
If you’ve been freelancing and earning for a while, you’ll undoubtedly know your worth. Having been doing a job and getting paid handsomely for it is enough validation that you’re great at what you’re doing. The only thing you need to do is to keep it up and not settle for less.
