Freelance Apple

I’m sure most of us have read C. S. Lewis’s classic ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. In this story four children enter a wardrobe and find a portal through which they enter a different world to ours called ‘Narnia’. The reason for me to mention this story here is because of the similarities I have seen between the world wide web and Narnia. The internet is like another world and for those of us who spend hours on the internet due to the nature of our work there is a fundamental requirement for us to see the difference between the two worlds and balance both of our lives.

There are people who will become indulged in RPGs and other activities on the internet and their entire lives will  be consumed by it. As freelancers we are not playing an RPG but we are spending hours online for a plethora of reasons. Our work, marketing, contact, information and communication is all primarily done on the internet and as great as it is, it can lead to freelancers neglecting their families and friends for the sake of their work.

Innumerable freelancers entered this field because of the freedoms the lifestyle gives us. We can take a holiday when we want ourselves, wake up when we want, not take orders from anyone and change our workspace as we see fit. Being fully self-employed not only gives you the freedom to work less, but to work more. Unfortunately it is surprisingly easy to spend an entire day in front of your computer with the intent of ‘getting more done’. This is where we become one with the RPG addicts and begin to see life as a fairy tale, ignoring what drove us to work in the first place; our loved ones.

Schedule

The good news is that there is a way out and it starts with scheduling. The advantages of scheduling are extensive and I can almost guarantee that every successful freelancer has a schedule. Personally, I schedule everything, even the precious time I spend with my beautiful daughter. This may sound cruel that I will ‘make time in my diary’ to see my daughter and although it is not like that, the fact is that if I didn’t put this time to the side I would not see my daughter much. This is because when I start working I turn into a machine and can easily lose touch with reality and enter into Narnia through the Macbook.

Set a time for yourself to wake up and stick by this time, ensure you are up every morning at this time and then schedule the rest of your day. From when you have your breakfast to when you check your emails and every step of your day should be sensibly scheduled.

If you do not schedule you will end up spending your whole day checking and replying to emails. If something happens which disrupts your schedule, for example, a guest visits your house you must improvise and adapt your schedule, but still have a schedule.

Breaks

Taking a break is a necessity and I would advise taking a good half an hour break after two hours (this is my personal advice, for the correct medical advice consult a healthcare professional). Personally I would hate to work more than 7 – 8 hours a day and rarely do.

Breaks also include holidays and vacations. Remember that one of the advantages of being a freelancer is that you can work on holiday. Going on holiday will give you time to connect with your family or friends, so use this time wisely. Even if you do not take a vacation, be sure to at least take 2 days a week off because this will give you the opportunity to reconnect with the real world. Personally I don’t technically take an entire day off since I will check my email every day.

Target Setting

I usually set myself a sensible target for the amount of work which I need to do on that day. If I achieve this target, I will reward myself by seeing the remainder of the time as a bonus and therefore I go to the park with my wife and daughter or go out with friends.

Rewarding yourself with good will give you an incentive to stay focussed on the task at hand and not be distracted by YouTwitFace. Set realistic targets and if it becomes apparent that you are being too easy or too hard on yourself, then change the plan. If you are really good and finish 7 hours of work in an hour, don’t be silly, work at least another 3 hours!

Final Word

The similarities between The Wardrobe and a Macbook are apparent, they both can lead you to a fantasy world where you will lose what is important in life. It is therefore mandatory that a freelancer must see it as a necessary part of his/her work to work in the correct proportions. Work hard, play hard!

Do you agree? Do you know anyone who is far too much into their work? Are there any suggestions you may have which may help to solve this problem? Please share your knowledge with us below.

To keep in touch with us, please subscribe to our RSS
Socially bookmark using the links below
Please comment by expressing yourself below