Freelancing for a living is very much real as the traditional way of working. Whether you are connecting with various clients through freelancing or if you work through an organization, it is important to put a fine line between your work and personal lives.
Balancing your work life prevents the burnout you get from working 24/7. Compared to the early ancient men, there is a tremendous transformation in every aspect of man’s life including the working processes.
An adult spends the maximum part of their life at work, which also has been a subject to various transformations. The most recent trend regarding work is the “freelance” form of work. However, much more is yet to be discovered about what a positive platform freelance is about to make in work’s future. Ultimately, such an impact is very well understood by many, that freelancing is the most preferred job type as per a study.
Today, as we move ahead, let us discuss one of the significant concerns of freelance workers, following a few basics of freelancing.
Freelancing - An Overview
Freelancing is a form of job wherein an individual undertakes to work for oneself rather than others leading them as the employers. In other words, freelancers are self-employed people who take up contracts and act as their bosses. The individuals choose to freelance for several reasons, as mentioned in the following image.
From the above image, it can be understood that only 14% of the freelancers had to enter into freelance business as there was no option left. In contrast, 86% of the freelancers have voluntarily chosen this career to be more flexible with their needs.
Although freelancing is witnessed and experienced as an effective way to earn a good lifestyle and build a better career, it has posed a few threats to the work-life balance. However, that’s not it. When freelancers implement the right strategies, it is undoubtedly possible to gain a work-life balance despite the struggles that one may go through. But the question is - “How to ensure work-life balance while freelancing?”
The Effective Strategies To Gain Work-Life Balance While Freelancing
Being a freelancer has several advantages, like working from home and choosing your hours. According to factoHR, every 9 out of 10 employees feel a flexible environment is essential as it offers a better work-life balance (60%) and increases productivity (34%). Being a freelancer also has disadvantages, while the most notable is that you may usually work from home and choose your hours. You can notice how tricky it may sound. Don’t you? Well, it might be challenging to strike the perfect balance between work and life as a freelancer, while the advantages can be your cause of disappointments too.
However, here are a few practical strategies discussed, which, when appropriately followed, may strike the right balance and work autonomy, enhancing motivation and engagement while working.
Create And Stick To The Day’s Routine
One of the significant concerns in freelancing is to discern the advantage of being "your own boss" rightly. Since there’s no HOD or manager to get you to work on time, it can be challenging to manage a proper schedule. Regarding the same, the following concerns from a few freelancers are gathered.
Therefore, setting a proper daily routine is essential to ensure productivity and effectiveness. Creating and setting up a plan for the day can highly contribute to maintaining a work-life balance as the plan is created according to one’s ability and time. This way, no excess or less work is done for that particular day, and the time will be well managed. Thus it helps in being more organized, prepared, and potential at work and enjoying time.
Set Your Professional And Personal Lives Apart
This strategy is less complex than said. When an individual engages himself in a regular 9-5 job, the possibility to set apart the personal and professional life is pretty easy, whereas freelancing makes the situation quite difficult. There are times that one feels that components of the two different aspects coincide very often, and here’s an example.
However, this doesn’t mean that there’s no way out. With proper determination and allocation of work, this challenge can be overcome very well. Limiting how often you think about work while at home is one way to make your personal and professional lives. Just as being distracted by personal problems lowers job productivity, thinking about work too much at home diverts attention from your personal life.
Our professional lives will always impact what we do with our personal time, but it's important to find time to do things that can positively impact the balance. For some, that requires you to make a major effort to learn something new, find a hobby you're passionate about, or has the ability to take your mind off work completely. A hobby like paddleboarding or biking would provide a larger rush that just might do the trick in convincing your body and mind to take a break from the constant stress and anxiety that work can provide.
What matters the most is how one tries to keep the personal life away from professional life and ensure the required time for both aspects. When the line between them is well defined and practiced, the work-life balance will automatically fall in its place.
Stay Determined On One Thing At A Time
Determination and prioritization of tasks are essential to attain work-life balance. However, for the same, you need to know what one particular aspect you want to focus on to achieve. You can benefit from the Eisenhower Box, which helps you understand and makes your decision-making easier as to what needs more focus and determination.
Once the focus aspect is determined, make sure that you do not take up anything else (however, there could be exceptional cases.) This strategy helps maintain a perfect and most effective flow of your work and gives you peace of mind as your decisions are more discerned and appropriate, thus paving the way for a better work-life balance.
Prioritize Your Physical And Mental Health
Freelancing, in one way, ensures that you don’t feel stressed out because of tight schedules, strict deadlines, and nagging managers from the regular job types. However, it is exposed to threats that one may pose to oneself. And that can cause various physical and mental issues, severely affecting one’s life’s balance. But that’s not it. While freelancing, it is essential to give time to oneself to prevent burnout and keep physically and mentally fit.
When they are rightly followed, the possibility to feel strong and energetic to work will be more significant, as mentioned in the image.
Learn And Practice To Say ‘No’ And Avoid Overcommitment
It is possible that as a beginner freelancer, you may not have many clients and projects to work on, which may make your earnings quite tricky. But that also doesn’t mean that you accept every order or contract that comes your way. Suppose you agree to take up all the orders. In that case, it may affect productivity and lead to overcommitment, leading to less effectiveness in work, lack of concentration, increased stress, and many more unfavorable consequences. In the end, freelancing may turn out to be a burden instead of making you feel happier.
When the content of the above image is observed, we can understand that people leading are happy and, in that case, Suppose others are disappointed with freelancing. But the result ultimately depends on the freelancer alone.
Let’s Wrap Up
As freelancers, it is essential to keep reminding oneself what led to the choice of freelancing. And once the choice is made, the fruit of choice is to be gained appropriately by ensuring that the right things are carried out at the right time. And that’s where the significance of work-life balance can be realized. Because, when one works to ensure the balance, the earned value and reputation can be reaped and enjoyed well. Thus, practice the above strategies, identify others that help you make your life more balanced, and be the happiest freelancer whom the others look up to. And that’s not very difficult when the right ways to approach freelancing are identified, right?
About the author:
Ayush Borra is a passionate content writer and an avid reader with expertise in creating various ideas for creative writing. He is passionate about researching and exploring blogs, checking out the latest trends, and replicating his expertise in crafting exclusive content. His approach and readiness towards writing quality content are exceptional.
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