3 Ways To Boost Your Motivation As A Freelancer
Staying motivated as a freelancer can be challenging. There’s no boss or supervisor keeping you accountable. You have to keep yourself accountable. Most freelancers also have the ability to work wherever they want, including at home, which means distractions are aplenty!
Have you ever tried getting some serious work done when the tv, your phone, and all of your favorite snacks are so easily within reach? It’s hard. Pair that with the fact that no one is going to tell you not to watch reruns of Friends in the background and you have a one-way ticket to distraction city.
Approximately 60 million people do freelance work in America as of 2020 and that number is expected to increase over the years as more remote work options open up. Already having grown in leaps and bounds in the past five years, freelancing is quickly becoming a career for many and all 60 million of those people have to motivate themselves to get their work done. It’s hard, but it can be done.
As a freelance writer myself, I know writer’s block happens to the best of us. Procrastination is felt by a lot of people, and I’m no stranger to it. Here are some techniques I’ve found that keep me motivated that may work for you.
Remind Yourself Why You Started Freelancing
Ask yourself why you wanted to jump into the world of freelancing to begin with. Was it because you wanted to have the ability to work from home? Are you traveling and freelancing fit with your lifestyle? By thinking of what made freelancing alluring to you in the first place, you can rekindle your love for the job and may be motivated to finish that project you were hung up on.
I often take a minute during my workday as a writer to appreciate the flexibility that I get to have with this job. I get to work wherever I want, whenever I want. I can wear whatever I want. I have the ability to maintain my household and spend more time with friends and family when I want. Taking a moment of gratitude to appreciate what freelancing creates for you is a great way to get back into a motivated mindset.
Reward Yourself
Set goals for yourself with a reward to tackle to-do’s you may not be so excited about. By setting small goals you can easily meet with an outcome that you’re looking forward to, you’ll obviously want to reach the finish line and get the treat. Just like sticker charts that most of us were familiar with as a kid, reward yourself with a treat when you accomplish the work you needed to do.
Some great reward systems that work for me and may work for you are:
I reward myself with going for a walk after I work for 2 hours.
I get to order myself a tasty dinner from my favorite restaurant on Friday night if I meet all my weekly deadlines.
I can take a 10-minute break to scroll on my phone aimlessly for every hour of work that I do.
You’re never too old to get a treat for your hard work!
Get Rid of Distractions
It’s much easier to stay motivated on a task or project when you’re not consumed by outside influences such as your phone or tv. I am guilty of rarely having a distraction-free zone for my workspace, and I’m sure I would be far more efficient if I adhered more strictly to ridding my workspace of distractions like TVs and phones. However, that’s one of the reasons I started freelancing in the first place; so I could watch movies and listen to podcasts all day while I worked.
I do sometimes have to physically remove my phone from the room I’m working in so I’m not tempted to look at it and get distracted. I also have to hide the tv remote from myself on occasion too. Do what you need to do in order to reach your deadlines!
Everyone struggles with motivation at one time or another and freelancers are no different. Staying motivated throughout the workday and a freelancing career will no doubt have its highs and lows. No one is “on” 100% of the time and that’s okay! That’s what freelancing is all about; being able to work at your own pace and do what you need to meet your goals.
Related:
Meet The Writer!
Allow me to introduce myself! My name’s Katy Duncan and I work as a freelance copywriter. I specialize in topics regarding health and wellness, fitness, and beauty, on my website, www.eudaimoniaeutopia.com. I offer an array of services including blog posts, blog management, social media management, product descriptions, press releases and editing expertise and I can be contacted through my website or on LinkedIn. When I’m not creating engaging, captivating content for my website or clients or contributing to communities of writers, I’m working on producing a fiction novel from the comforts of my quiet nook in the Pacific Northwest, where I reside with my feline friend, Merlin Magoo and many prospering house plants.
