Freelancing is a good option for many people, depending on what sort of industry they find themselves working in. From content writers and graphic designers to those working in PR or accounting, it’s great to know that there are freelance options out there.
The reasons why someone might go freelance are different for everyone, but the common reasons include wanting a more flexible schedule and potentially higher earnings. While there are so many benefits to freelance work, there are many perks from being employed that you can’t find when you’re your own boss.
Not having to do your own taxes or having support from a manager is just a couple of the benefits you can find when you are fully employed. Deciding what is right for you may be a matter of trying both or working freelance on the side to see if you could handle doing it long term.
If you do decide that it’s for you, there are certain skills that will benefit you going forward. While it’s okay if you don’t have these freelancing skills straight away, it’s a good idea to try and improve upon them.
Take a look at these few freelance skills you can learn quickly.
3 Must-Have Skills for Freelancers
Time management
When you are a freelancer, there is no one to tell you when you should and shouldn’t be working. Unlike when you’re working in an office (with set hours), you really have to make your own schedule.
Sticking to this schedule can be difficult, especially if you work from home and have other distractions. The first few months of being freelance are where many workers overindulge in their newfound flexibility and fall short on work.
It’s important that you set yourself deadlines and stick to them as much as possible. One way to do this is to get a good calendar app, where you can schedule hours each day or week to get a lot of work done.
If you’re struggling to focus in a busy house, mimicking the act of going into the office by visiting your local coffee shop can be a great way to get lots of work done in a short amount of time.
Being your own boss has so many benefits but some downsides if you are the sort of boss who doesn’t take things too seriously. Improving your time management skills is a must for effective freelance working. There is no point in having a flexible schedule if it starts to become too flexible.
Knowing when to take a break
On the flipside of this, there are many freelancers who get too involved in their work and dedicate an unusual number of hours to it. This is where the flexible schedule starts to do more damage than good, as working whenever you like starts to become always working in with no breaks.
It’s important, for both you and your work that you know when to take a break and these can come in many forms. Perhaps you need to book a week or two off where you don’t look at your laptop at all or maybe it’s more about closing down your work tabs and watching a movie or playing a video game on the computer you’ve just spent hours working on.
There are some great, diverse devices that can really aid with your work/life balance. Something like Lenovo All In One Gaming PCs can allow you to go from working to gaming in no time.
If you tend to be a bit of a workaholic, it can be difficult to know when to stop. This is especially the case as a freelancer due to not having a boss to tell you when to take it easy.
It’s just a matter of knowing when to give yourself some downtime and making sure you actually take it.
Good with people
Being a freelancer often means juggling a number of clients or sources of income. While your work should ultimately speak for itself, one of the other things that keep these companies or individuals coming back to you is how you are as a person.
Getting better at being good with people is an invaluable skill to have as a freelancer as you let companies know that you are more than just a place where they can outsource work and someone whom they can speak with on a more human level.
When you work in the same workplace, which may be a small office with just a few people, you get used to speaking with the same individuals all the time and a few others. You learn how they communicate and what they respond to most. This is much easier when it’s just a handful of colleagues though. This is another reason that entering the world of freelance may be a little daunting at first and the only way you can improve is by practicing.
Making sure you are coming across as friendly and approachable, yet professional, in your personal meetings, phone calls, video conferences, and emails is vital for building working relationships.
When you connect with different businesses and clients, it’s far more likely that they’ll come back to you when they need that service or product you provide again. As a freelancer, few things are better than guaranteed streams of income and people skills are a huge step towards attaining that.
Freelancing has so many benefits and is truly the best path for many people. It really gives you power over your own time and works while also allowing you to step out and build on your experience.
It can take some adjustment though and there are skills you will benefit from having during your time as a freelancer. Balancing your schedule, knowing when to take a break, and improving on your people skills are just a few of these but they are so important if you want to make it work.
Though your work is what truly matters, you can’t do it well if you aren’t working as efficiently as you can, and developing these best freelancing skills for beginners can really help you get there.
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