Hina Javed Malik
Success as a freelancer is directly proportional to how organized you are. A common mistake freelancers make and the reason they fail often is, they don’t keep a track of their activities at work, Always clock your routine. The first impression is the last impression, there is no magic wind to turn back the clock and start all over again.
This is 2023, Freelancers face cutthroat competition, you never know who is smarter and gets a massive advantage over you, just because they know their game. Spending 10+ hours on the internet a day and complaining; I work hard but do not succeed is merely an excuse. The actual investigation gets down to, out of 10+ hours, how many hours are actually applied to being productive and getting progressive.
Social media are huge distractions so as are Skype and other chat messengers. If a huge portion of the work routine is taken away by Social media, chats, and television, then the truth is, you are not spending good time on the actual task, i.e freelancing.
Finding work is not easy, but finishing the found work is even tougher. If you are not organized you will fade away pretty quickly.
Here are a few essential key steps to becoming a successful freelancer and enjoying your work along the process.
(1) Kickoff your day with the sites you use often, including social networking websites. Leverage big on the websites you use a lot and use them smartly.
Start your day by reading your emails, and go through the correspondence of yesterday. Open your favorite social networking websites. This should be your best time to connect, and socialize with the world before you begin your work.
Freelancers tend to under estimate the power of social media for business. Social media are often the best source of business, for example, creating a page on Facebook and advertising the business to the target audience, using Pinterest to draft a living resume to the world by exhibiting the work could be really handy. There is no other power attention grabber than social media networks, freelancers who capitalize on this opportunity do better than those, who overlook these mediums.
The use of social media websites should actually end when you begin your freelance work for the day. Staying focused on the job is the “key“.
(2) Changing the place of work often.
Changing the scenery can change the way you work, and a same workplace can put your performance down. Forged surroundings if changed could result in better output and increased efficiency. If you are a Freelancer who works from home, changing your work areas every now and then could help you raise your performance level and energy.
(3) Do not get distracted, disciple your reason for freelancing.
As a freelancer, who works from home you have other responsibilities. There are utility bills, grocery etc which need your attention. One should never forget that the first and foremost responsibility is freelancing. Yes, the other tasks are important, but the time management should be carefully done so you can get back to your work without losing a minute, time is money!
(4) Keep Learning, get new skills and take on new challenges.
Learning new skills and taking new challenges in your area of expertise is very important. This is an era of technology and new versions of every software, even new software is introduced frequently. As a freelancer, one must spare a little time for research and development (R&D) to get hands on with new skills, and new software.
Do not be afraid of taking on new challenges, or learning a new skill because, by not learning something new, you get stagnant and eventually you come to the point where you become sluggish. New challenges (e.g – taking on different tasks within your domain of expertise) could eventually make you a master of that new skill. On a personal note, I started freelancing as a logo designer, I do web designing, and web development now. One can take new challenges because there is an urge to learn new skill and move forward.
(5) Enjoy your work.
Freelancers choose “freelancing” over full-time jobs because they wanted freedom. A freedom of working from home, in their own time zone. It is natural to loose interest after some time because of undeviating routine. One must un-zap the new ways to charge, motivate and pump up the routine, make it more enjoyable.
