One of the often touted benefits that freelancers get from their chosen career path is the opportunity to spend more time for themselves. But as many would attest, reaping this benefit is far harder in practice, as they soon find themselves chasing deadlines and juggling more projects than they can manage. So, how do you get that work-life balance back and get more out of it?
The challenges to maintaining good work-life balance
While freelancing gives you a lot more freedom when compared to regular jobs, it also comes with its challenges. These can end up making you more constrained in how you juggle work and other activities. As such, understanding how each challenge will affect your quest for improving work-life balance is vital.
Client Demands
One thing a lot of freelancers will tell you is that clients can be very demanding. There is often a prevailing notion that freelancers are available for the whole day simply because they have flexible schedules. As such, clients expect them to respond quickly to their requests, whatever time those come in.
Often, freelancers would be obliged to do so for fear of losing these clients. And due to that pressure, they find themselves responding to emails even during times when they are supposed to be resting. This is further compounded if they are working with multiple clients.
Competition
With the freelancer scene growing larger every year, the competition for bagging major contracts also becomes stiffer. This takes a toll on your ability to get a good work-life balance. You might often find yourself working more hours than usual to gain more earnings.
This is not helped by clients not readily agreeing with the pricing you have set for projects. Sometimes, you will hear the argument that other freelancers can do it for a cheaper price. You then find yourself with no choice but to either lower your rates or complete your work at a tighter schedule. In both cases, you lose earnings and time that would help you get a good work-life balance.
Worker efficiency
Your own efficiency in doing tasks also has a big effect in your effort to get a good work-life balance at home. Since you are working in the same space that you live in, you become more complacent and and less organized. There is the tendency to postpone work for later in the mistaken belief that you can always catch up.
There are also various domestic distractions that can affect your ability to work.more efficiently. Chores are one such distraction that would be hard to avoid since you are expected to do them while at home. And when you try juggling all of that with your job, you find it harder to concentrate in the work at hand.
The above situation creates an even bigger issue as you try to compensate for that loss of efficiency. Here, you can end up working more than you should to remain productive. As such, you end up enjoying your stay at home less and less.
With all these challenges, getting a good work-life balance out of the freelancer lifestyle can seem a difficult feat. But it can still be done, albeit you need to be more disciplined for it. Let’s take a look at the various strategies you can do to enjoy a good mix of work and play.
Achieving work-life balance: creating the right schedule
The first thing you would want to do to improve your work-life balance is by practicing better time management. While freelancing gives you a lot of flexibility as to when to work, you still need to make good use of your time. For that, you need to have a more efficient schedule.
Deciding on overall work time is the first step in building your schedule. This often boils down to your personal preferences. If you are more of a morning person, then schedule most of your important work during that time. You can also opt to split your time into work blocks to accommodate house chores.
Organize your task pool
Once you have decided on your overall work time, you need to fit tasks into it efficiently. List down all the tasks that you need to accomplish for the given day and week to create your task pool. Take into account not just the major tasks but also the smaller ones.
Split these tasks into different categories. The simplest way to do this is to separate everything into one-time tasks and recurring ones. You could also break down the tasks based on clients or deadlines.
Once you have your tasks categorized, assign them to their respective work times. The idea here is to ensure that you can move from one task to the next easily. Try different schedule combinations to see which one you will be most comfortable with.
Lessen distractions
An effective way to lessen the various distractions around the house is by having a designated home office. This should be a separate room from your bedroom or the living room. Make sure that all the items you place in there are only the ones needed for your work to avoid drawing your attention away from tasks.
You would also want to inform everyone in the house about your working times so that they won\’t enter your office. Put a large sign at the door stating that you are at work. If you have kids, you can use simple visual ces like a red line outside to tell them not to cross the line to the room.
On the other hand, you would want to avoid entering the home office after work. This way, you will not be tempted to check on client emails. Locking the door is a good strategy to resist the temptation of going in.
Set time for personal stuff
While this might seem obvious, many freelancers tend to forget it amid the hustle and bustle. By including personal time into your work schedule, you become more conscious of its importance in your work-life balance. As such, you become more motivated in getting things done on time to enjoy these periods.
Note that you don’t simply try and find free time in your schedule to put these activities in. Instead, actively consider that personal time when building your schedule. By carefully choosing where to place these into your schedule, you can use them as stress relievers to get you prepared for the next set of tasks.
Image from MaxPeople.
While you are free on how to use your personal time, you would still want to think about the activities you want to do. For instance, you can use your free time to do personal projects. Or you can use it to help out the kids do their homework. This way, you get a greater sense of satisfaction knowing that you are using that free time well.
Achieving work-life balance: coordinating clients effectively
Effective client management is also vital for you to get that work-life balance that you want. The idea here is that you should avoid being overwhelmed by clients. Instead, you would want to be on equal grounds with them when working together.
The first thing to do is avoid overcommitment. While it might be an enticing strategy to attract the interest of clients, you end up putting yourself in a corner in trying to meet demands. Set a realistic limit on what you can do and make sure that clients are aware of this.
You also need to learn when to say no to certain client demands. Think carefully about whether such demands will impede your daily routine and decide whether it would be worth what you get. For instance, if a client wants you to complete a project within a day and you think that it will affect your other works, then be willing to decline their request and explain the reason. If the client truly believes in your work, they will be willing to compromise.
Image from Chicago Planner Magazine.
Set communication limits
Client emails outside of work can also be an annoying issue when you are trying to maintain your work-life balance. You end up responding to these emails instead of having the time for yourself. To avoid that, you need to have a stringent policy of limiting such communications outside of your given work schedule.
Make sure to communicate your work cutoff times clearly to clients during the initial negotiations. You would also want to tell them about your planned vacations so that they know it is also your off time. In case they would want to communicate with you during those times, set boundaries on the kind of requests you will entertain. For instance, you should not entertain requests for major revisions during your vacation.
Find that balance between work and pleasure as a freelancer
Achieving work-life balance as a freelancer can itself be a tough balancing act. You will often have to go through several trials before you can find that ideal mix. But when you do, you will appreciate the beauty of freelancing more. Explore these strategies and have fun while working.