Diary Of A Freelancer – December Edition

As the year comes to a close, I can’t help but reflect on all of the things that I have learned this year. This year has been one of the quietest years personally for me as this is my third year working as a freelancer, I am living in the same home, and my health hasn’t really gotten any better or any worse. In fact, my biggest hurdle this year has been protecting myself while everyone else around me loses their shit.

But this doesn’t mean that I haven’t picked up plenty of tips along the way that has made my life much easier. Working from home isn’t always the most glamorous of things, despite what some may think, and so I wanted to share a bit of my experience. Please let me know if you enjoy this type of segment and if you would like me to continue this next year.

Distracting myself from distractions

One of the hardest things about working from home is dealing with all of the distractions that I am surrounded with (I live with three beautiful cats that constantly want cuddles and to be played with which makes it even harder). If I see a bunch of washing that needs to be done, it is only natural for me to want to do it. If my friend messages me and says that they have the day off and they want to catch up, I will drop what I am doing and will go for it which, of course, puts me behind with my work.

Helping G out with his business

Also, because I am already at home and I am in charge on my own working hours, I seem to be the one who is left in charge of taking care of our bills and the majority of the house work. You would be surprised to know how many hours of my day are spent on the phone to Optus following up refunds etc. My partner also started his own business this year and a great deal of my time has been spent helping him with that. And, of course, there is the biggest distraction of all is Instagram. I try to use my phone morning and night and will put my phone in another room during work hours in an attempt to combat this.

Noise cancellation

I live in the loudest house in history with traffic noise 24-hours a day that becomes especially bad around around 6am and 3pm. We have considered moving so many times but our rent is just so affordable and my partner and I want to save to buy a house. So we have decided to stay and put some effort into this place to make it comfortable (another distraction for me is browsing Facebook marketplace for things for the home).

To combat the noise, I wear earplugs while I am working (and to bed) and will play lo-fi music in the background. This has seriously been a saving grace for me because I am very sensitive to noise and it helps me really get into what I am doing. I have put a bunch of lo-fi mixes into a playlist here on YouTube and I have invested in YouTube premium so I don’t have to deal with any ads.  

My original office set up which was moved downstairs to deal with the warmer weather

Getting a treadmill

One of the best things that I have done this year is getting a treadmill to put in the shed. Earlier in the year I signed up to a gym but found that it was just too hard to find time to go around work. Now I can just walk into my shed and do 15-minutes whenever I please (which is great for creativity). Mind you, I did find the one I have on Marketplace and it is falling apart so I will need to look into a good quality one for next year.

Upping my rates and focusing on what is easy

Another thing I have done this year is upped my rates. This was very nerve-wracking for me but as a Uni graduate and now with three-years of content writing experience under my belt, I knew it was time to charge more. I now charge $55.00 per 600-word article and some people are happy to pay this and then some others are not. And that’s okay, I just have to learn that my clients are the ones who are willing to invest in their businesses

This year I have also learned that I need to stop taking on random gigs. Because I am active on social media I have been approached to help manage some social media accounts and each time I have agreed, it has never worked out. I have also had some coaching calls and have designed a couple of websites this year which again, I do enjoy doing but it does take up a great deal of time and is not something that comes easily to me. So moving forward, I will be offering content writing services and brand collaborations but nothing more.

MOVING INTO THE NEW YEAR

A clear routine

One of the hardest things for me is setting a clear routine and sticking to it. My creativity and work drive really depends on what time of the month it is and sometimes it can be hard for me to stick to a schedule but it is just so important. If my partner gets home early from work I will just have to take my laptop into my bedroom and if a loved one wants to catch up during work hours, I will just have to reschedule. My idea is to set my hours and then text my loved ones my schedule so that they know when I am and am not available.

Making my passion project my full-time project

Another thing that I haven’t really made time for is my creative projects. I haven’t really created any new blog posts this year and I have really wanted to dive into making some video content. As content writing is my day job and is what pays the bills, this is what I have focused on the most but I want to make sure that I am working on my passions too. I think setting aside some white space each week to do whatever I feel in that time will be a great way to achieve this.

All in all, I think with some finishing touches, I am able to get my business running like clockwork while also feeling fulfilled. Do you have any ideas for 2020 that you would like to implement? I would love to hear your thoughts.