Do you think more and more often that you want to leave your job because you don’t like sitting in the office all day, you don’t want to spend your life at work, you don’t like working from 8:00 to 5:00, or you want to get out and see the world?
Or, are you happy to have a regular job, to understand what’s expected of you, to know when your work day begins and ends, and to be able to go home and leave your responsibilities back at the office?
Freelance work looks very tempting and sounds like everything that many people want. Get up when you want to, don’t deal with your inhuman boss, work the way you need to. But being a freelancer doesn’t just include the positive and the good. As with everything, you need to deal with many elements that are not right for everyone. When you work on your own, it will be difficult, and if you do not have regular contracts, you may have to find employment any way you can. How can you decide whether being a freelancer is the right fit for you?
You don’t relish rules and routines
You want freedom for your time and your lifestyle, and you don’t like boundaries or limits. You can’t stand it when other people make decisions that affect your life and how you live it. A big corporation is probably not the best for you; you don’t like its systems and structure. You would prefer to decide things for yourself, based on the time you want to spend working and the money you want to earn. If you work as a freelancer, you don’t have people directly over you, issuing commands and directives. You can make these decisions for yourself.
Be a better boss
You know your idea will work, but you have to keep quiet because your boss believes that only their ideas and opinions are correct. Instead, you have to bite your lip 30 and keep your (excellent!) thoughts to yourself to avoid an argument. As a freelancer, you can be your own boss and — for the most part — do things as you see fit. Of course, if your idea fails then you have no one to blame but yourself, but if it succeeds then all of the credit comes to you.
You champion challenges
And you choose to face them. When you work as a freelancer, you must solve problems, set up appointments, meet with clients, and arrange time to work … occasionally all at the same time. You will utilize your business skills as well as your creative talent on a daily basis. If you don’t win a contract you were counting on, you will have to find new ways to make the money you need. Sometimes things don’t work out and you must make last-minute changes to your plan; other times, you may have so many prospective clients that you are forced to say no to some of them. Freelancers often thrive in the face of challenges and enjoy using their creativity and flexibility to solve these problems.
You dare to do things differently
Working in a traditional office typically means doing the same kind of work for months at a time, maybe even years. If you do the work well, there might be the opportunity for a promotion and you may end up managing colleagues who now perform the work you used to do. However, you could be the kind of person who needs a bit more variety in your life. Maybe you prefer to have several irons in the fire, and you are actually working multiple distinctive jobs at the same time. Or you simply like to practice one skill for a shorter amount of time before turning to another. Freelancers and entrepreneurs often find themselves sought out by other young innovators who have seen their progress and ask for advice on how they might then change the world.
Freedom and flexibility are fabulous!
Freelancers generally have more freedom than traditional employees — it’s even in the name! You can set your own hours, working from dawn to dark on one day but taking the afternoon off the next day. You often have greater flexibility about where and how you work as well. Perhaps you still wind up working from a desk in your bedroom every day, but it is because you have chosen to. Freelancers thrive on this independence. Is there a downside to this kind of freedom? If you ever do end up working in a traditional office again, you may find the rules and regulations even more suffocating, but if you’ve worked hard during your freelancing career perhaps you will never be put in this situation again!
