Much has been said and written about the life and work of freelancers…here we offer you some of our best tips, based on years of freelancing experience! Enjoy!

1. Try to keep fixed working hours (more or less)

We know it’s difficult to have a schedule when there’s no one breathing down your back and your bed is only a few steps away from your desk, but it is much easier to separate your personal life from your working life when you establish your working hours and try to stick to them. The best choice is probably to try and follow regular  normal office hours, so work from around 9 to around 5. Although many of us are not really morning types and it’s very tempting to sleep in until noon every day, if you get most of your work done during regular working hours, you can enjoy the evening with your friends and family, who most probably will be busy in the morning and afternoon. Unless all your friends are freelancers, in which case…you’re lucky!

2. Get your hands away from the keyboard

This is probably one of the most important tips we can offer. When you’re a freelancer it can be tempting to keep working the whole day -especially if you’ve had a rather long 2-hour lunch break and a few coffee/tv/facebook stalking breaks in between and you haven’t managed to work as much as you should have by the end of the day. However, one of the best productivity boosts is some type of physical exercise, so try to save some time to go for a walk, a run, go to the gym or whatever else you like to do with your free time. Not only is it good for your health and productivity, it also helps to appease the loneliness of working from home and not seeing or talking to other human beings for days on end-unless of course that’s why you became a freelancer in the first place.

3. Do not overwork yourself

When you don’t have a 9-5 job with a fixed salary, often you find yourself saying “yes” to everyone and taking up more and more projects, just out of fear that you won’t be able to make ends meet if you don’t. Or maybe you’re thinking that you can rest all you want when this wave of work is over…which of course may never be the case. We know the feeling, and unfortunately insecurity is one of the main factors that can lead to a burnout. We also think that the number of hours one can work with no rest largely depends on the individual…after all, some people are fine with 6 hours of sleep while others can’t even think of opening their eyes before their 9-hour beauty sleep is over. However, try to have at least one day per week when you don’t do anything work-related. This will help you relax and actually enhance your motivation and productivity when you’re ready to go back to work.

4. Try networking with other freelancers or entrepreneurs

When you’re a freelancer, chances are most of your friends and family are not available for a chat or coffee during the day. Chances are also that most of them can’t really understand your way of life, the things that worry you and your doubts about your career. And as you probably don’t have the customary lunch or coffee break that people usually share with colleagues, where they can unwind and complain about work –a reasonable amount of complaining is good, although too much can be poisonous for anyone- it might be a good idea to try and network with other freelancers or entrepreneurs. These are people that will most likely understand what you’re going through, they are probably available during the day as they determine their own schedule and the best part is they might sooner or later become your clients…who knows?

5. When you’re out of work…enjoy! It probably won’t last long!

Remember that familiar feeling of insecurity that grabs hold of you when you’ve had one or two weeks without work? Sometimes, even if you’re reasonably successful at what you do and you have a fixed set of clients that regularly come back, it’s hard not to worry about these periods of…drought in the work front. When these moments come, just remind yourself that it’s totally normal; both the drought and the worrying. However, this period will most likely be over sooner than later, so we suggest you tackle some of the administrative tasks you’ve been putting off for so long and most importantly…enjoy! Take a walk, sleep a siesta, watch a good movie, read a book, do whatever it is that will take your mind off work and will help you recharge.