Top 3 Challenges Each Freelancer Must Face

In freelancing, you are your own boss. For this reason, distraction is inevitable. You can easily get tempted to spend time with your family and friends. Hence, you might have irregular working hours and extend your task into late hours. When you work from home, it is important to find the appropriate work-life balance for your well-being. In freelancing, it may become complicated for you to separate your personal life with your working life, when they exist under the same roof. If you want to become successful as a freelancer, you need to understand the biggest challenges that you have to face in this business. Now we will discuss 3 major issues of freelancing along with its solution.    

1. Lack of motivation during lean season

If you are a freelancer, you need to understand that just like any other business; it also has ups and downs. During the peak season, you might have to refuse some projects due to lack of time. There are also lean seasons, when you have to wait several days to get one assignment. It is a risky business. You might have to face fluctuations in your income level from one month to another.  “No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up and never give up.” The most important thing in freelancing is the “never give up” attitude. You just have to think outside of the box. You never know where your new client can be. 

Solution

The Internet is a powerful tool. You can get most your assignments online. However, you need to make real connections to promote yourself as an efficient freelancer. You have to use the word of mouth marketing technique. You must try and spread word about your skills and the kind of work you do to your friends. You need to ask unknown persons if they required any kind of service from you. You need to attend different business fairs, meet new people. You never know what new opportunity you might bump into.   

In addition, you need to increase your online presence not only through websites or blogs, but also through discussion boards and forums. You can take help from LinkedIn to answer interesting posts and to get in touch with potential clients. You can ask for expert advice, interesting questions and get inspired by the same. It will help you to acquire new connections. Most important thing in this business is not to give up hope. You have to try to search for new ways that you have not tried before.

2. Spending quality time with family members and friends

Since you have to work from home, you might have to babysit, or you may have to do house chores between your tasks. If you are also one of them, it’s time to wake up! If you make it your habit, it will be difficult for you to keep an appropriate schedule. There is also a possibility that you might miss deadlines. In addition, your family members and friends will not understand the line between your working hours and off hours. If you don’t maintain these rules from the beginning of your business, you might get regularly interrupted. It can decrease your efficiency as a freelancer. Hence, it is highly important for you to find out proper balance your life and working time.

Solution

At first, you have to try to develop an organized schedule. It has to be similar to an office schedule. You must try to wake up earlier and start working with the toughest and the most urgent tasks. It may take some extra time to complete these complex tasks, but once accomplished they bring relief and greater motivation.  Always try to finish all the important tasks at the first part of the day, when you are the most productive. It is the time when most of your friends are at work, and your children are at school. If you are not a morning person, then you can do this work any other time of the day. The most important thing is to find out some quiet hours to do all your difficult tasks.  In addition, you have to make some ground rules so that they do not disturb you during the time of your work. You must have to understand that you work is far more important than your house chores and phone calls of your friends. Try to stay focused during working hours, so that you can enjoy your off time with your friends and family members.

3. Project management

It is recognized as one of the common challenges of freelancers, especially during the starting period. As there is no supervisor to monitor your work, this freedom can lead you to procrastination. As you are working independently, project management skills are necessary in order to do things at right time. This skill will make you a successful freelancer.

Solution

You have to make a plan for everything. In order to become fruitful in any job, it is required to set goals and stick to it. It will make sure that you are on the right track at the right time. You might be an exceptional writer, but if you do not have the designing skill, then you have to take help from someone for these added requisites. If you do not take care of all these small things, then they will together cost you lot of time. Hence, you need to set your plans according to the amount of work and stick to it.