7 Things Only Freelancers will Understand!

Now, freelancing is not a typical 9-5 job, for some; it’s indeed an 8-hour job, while for others, it might take less or more time. But indeed, it has some peculiarities which would have freelancers all around the globe nod in unison. Here are some of these job-related stresses of freelancing:

1.     That you work from home does not make you any less busy than others

Yes. And some people; no a lot of people, do not simply understand it. That you work from home does not equal the fact that you can afford to waste your time or that your time matters less than that of others who are regular office people. Well, the truth is that if you do not have very urgent projects at hand, you tend to be able to decide your working hours, but you are definitely not less busy than others.

2.     You do not get paid for simply showing up, you get paid for putting in the long hours required to get the desired result

Now, this is so true. While the regular office guy might not necessarily have that much responsibility on his shoulders because it isn’t his name that’s at stake, as a freelancer, you do have responsibilities on your shoulder- it is your name that is at stake. Thus, you have to work super hard to deliver jobs with utmost finesse and do all of this with a hearty attitude. Talk about growing up! A freelancer is definitely a grown up, with that many responsibilities hanging on his/her shoulders (chuckles) and your client doesn’t really care how long you have to work for, just that you produce the desired results.

3.     Doing other things may be difficult in the face of deadlines!

Someone invites you to a party: you decline because you have deadlines to meet. Another person invites you to a meet and greet but unfortunately; more deadlines. You are invited to go out with friends for a movie; well you just don’t have the time. And most people do not understand because you can simply choose not to work anytime you don’t feel like it, right? Not so, people; not so!

4.     Some days, when you do decide to chill out with friends, you go with either your laptop or a note where you can write down things which pop into your head 

And today, you finally decided to go to the beach with your friends after much analysis and re-analysis of the situation. But only on one condition: you have to go with your laptop. If that request is denied, well, you still have to go with a pen and a piece of paper. After all, you are correcting the ills of this world with your freelance work, right?

5.     Some days, all you care about is NOT freelancing

As I type, the time is 4:45 am. By 7 pm last night, I simply decided against writing again for the day and yeah, I slept. Like, I slept all through 7 till some minutes after 4 am! Sometimes, all you care about is being as far away from your PC as possible and trying to do something other than freelancing (in my case, this something else is almost always sleep- don’t judge me now!)

6.     Freelancing doesn’t mean you work for FREE!

I wanted to stop at number 5, but it is imperative that I mention this point. The thing is because you have not rented an office space doesn’t mean that what you are doing at home every day can be categorized under the segment of ‘play’. No, it isn’t. It is work, and consequently, it requires a lot of mental exertion, and so no, you don’t sit down all day to end up doing only unpaid work.

7.      Sometimes you have to search for inspiration

For the fact that it seems like you write so effortlessly, sometimes it is assumed that you are always bursting forth with inspiration. I mean how can you not? Well, sorry to burst your bubble but freelancers do have to literally search for inspiration- like a literal hunt and if anything catches your attention even if it’s a child’s schoolbag or what the family is having for dinner, voila! You pounce upon it and force something beautiful to come out of it. 

What are some of the things that aren’t listed here? Drop them below!