Freelance Life

Freelance Life

So far, I’m loving the freelance life.

I love how I can literally pick and choose when and where I work. I love the flexibility it offers around childcare. And I love that I don’t have to sit in endless meetings. I’m sure I don’t have to remind anyone of the luxuries freelancers enjoy.

Whatever you like to call it – owning your own business, being your own boss, doing it alone, managing your own agency – ultimately, you’re all. by. yourself. And while having no-one to report into has many advantages, it comes with its downsides too.

First of all there’s the loneliness. Don’t get me wrong, I often relish the times I’m alone at home, in complete quiet or sometimes with my own ‘grown-up’ tunes (i.e. no disney nor Little Mix), allowing me to concentrate and just get on with my work.  But do I miss the office atmosphere? Hell yes! I miss the clichés: water cooler  gossip, birthday cakes, office banter, team lunches etc.

What I miss the most however, is talking to my peers and being able to ask for help.

Help, I need somebody!

Some freelancers work from offices where they contract and some business owners have a team. But as I work from home and for myself, my business conversations are with my clients. Asking for help isn’t really appropriate.

This week, for the first time since I became a freelancer, I experienced a real feeling of loneliness.

While I’m a graphic and web designer, I’m not super technical. I design websites only on WordPress as my coding skills are quite basic. So while I was building a website for a new client, I ran into technical difficulties and got completely stuck. I couldn’t see how I would finish this project and felt stressed. And I haven’t felt stressed since I left my job nearly a year ago.

So I decided to think about any other time I got stuck when I started navigating my new career. There have been phone calls with fellow designers, e-mails to old colleagues, online research and most of all social media. There’re groups on Facebook and online forums who have truly helped me out (even saved my a*rse) multiple times.

Just ask

So, I did exactly that. Rather than go to freelance or even dedicated WordPress communities, I joined the ones for a specific theme (or even plug-in if you are familiar with those) and they were great! There were so many dedicated forums, groups, help & FAQ pages.

I didn’t just get all the answers to my questions and thus managed to finish the website, but I realised that I wasn’t alone. Say what you want about social media and this digital world our generation is obsessed with, this new world we live in is amazing. You realise you aren’t alone and you realise there’s always people to talk and ask questions to.

My advice this Pesach and Easter is to never be afraid to ask for help.

Love,
Bx