How to Stay Motivated as a Freelancer
By: Daniela Singlel
Tags: Personal Development, Self Employed, Creativity, Freelance, Motivation

How to Stay Motivated as a Freelancer

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

Earlier this year, I left my very stable office job to pursue a life of self-employment. Working freelance is something I spent years dreaming about, so I’m glad that all it took was a global pandemic for me to finally bite the bullet and call it quits on my day job.

Now that I find myself free from the limitations of an office job, I have a brand new boss to answer to: myself. For the first time ever, I am 100% responsible for managing my own time, energy and income as a freelance creator.

Staying motivated when you’re the boss

This new career path comes with its own set of challenges. What I have struggled with the most, however, is keeping myself motivated enough to continue to produce creative and engaging work. Since going freelance, I’ve discovered just how much I rely on external motivation to get stuff done.

Indeed, cultivating intrinsic motivation can be incredibly difficult when you first start to work for yourself. However, after a few months and many attempts at living the self-employed life, I think I have finally found a way of working that, frankly, works for me.

So whether you are a freelance newcomer or self-appointed veteran, we can all use some external inspiration every once in a while. Without further ado, here are some tips and tricks on how to stay motivated along your journey of self-employment.

Find your ideal working style and work around it

Staying motivated and creative is much easier once you find a schedule that aligns with the way you naturally work at your best.

I know myself well enough to know that I struggle with intrinsic motivation. To try and combat this, I aim to work Monday through Friday when my schedule allows it. However, I don’t necessarily keep 9–5 office hours. I know I work better in the early morning or late at night, and prefer to spend my afternoons away from the screen. I also like blocking out long chunks of time to work, instead of working for short bursts. This type of schedule is personalized for me and helps me get in the zone when I know I’m most likely to be in a state of peak motivation, while the Monday to Friday schedule reminds me to work when I need to and relax when I don’t.

To find a schedule that works best for you, determine how many hours or days per week you require to get your job done and schedule that around the rest of your life. Then, think about how much time off you need and how you would like to divide this up. Just because most people work Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, doesn’t mean you need to. Maybe you’re someone who is most productive in the mornings, so you decide to work seven mornings a week and use your afternoons as downtime. Or perhaps you like having a day off in the middle of the week, so you might think about working longer days during the rest of the week to make up for it.

The beauty of freelance work is that you can create a schedule that compliments your lifestyle and the way your brain works best. The hardest part is finding that perfect schedule, so don’t be afraid to experiment and try different things for the first few weeks, until you discover the ideal working pattern for you. It will then be much easier to stay motivated when you know when you need to work versus when you’re allowed to relax.

Discover when you flow

Although it’s all good and well to create a schedule that tries to leverage you when you’re at your most motivated, we aren’t robots. Some days, no matter how hard you try, you will inevitably feel as uninspired as a door post.

Motivation will not always strike when you need it to, which is why during times like these, you will need to dig deeper to create motivation out of thin air.

I have found a few methods to cultivate inner motivation when I feel like I have none. Meandering walks at dusk while I listening to early 2000s RnB, as well as long, relaxing showers in the dark with candles all around me have almost always done the trick. These may seem like very specific examples, but what they have in common is that they let my mind relax and ruminate. When I don’t overthink it or try too hard, my brain can relax and suddenly the motivation and inspiration flows freely.

Most importantly, remember that you aren’t glued to your chair. It may feel easier to sit and work through the frustration until the job is done, but taking a break to focus on something else when you’re feeling stuck is a much better way to re-energize yourself.

Think about what simple activities you enjoy doing, which simultaneously get your mind off work. Perhaps it is being out in nature, playing with your dog, or doing something like knitting, which keeps your hands busy but lets your mind go on auto pilot. Once you are finally able to find a sense of flow, hold on tight and ride that creative ride.

Final tips for staying motivated

When I’m feeling creatively depleted, I love to read articles from my favorite publications, listen to a new podcast or watch some YouTube videos. Regularly consuming content from all different sources and platforms will help you keep ideas flowing.

Most people have anywhere between four and six hours of productive, creative work per day before their brain starts to melt. Creating content and original ideas takes a lot of active thinking, whereas the more administrative parts of our jobs can often be done on autopilot. Keep that in mind when planning your weekly work schedule so you don’t let your creativity go to waste.

Creating content and original ideas takes a lot of active thinking, whereas the more administrative parts of our jobs can often be done on autopilot. Keep that in mind when planning your weekly work schedule so you don’t let your creativity go to waste. Sometimes, an idea seems good at first but fails in practice. In instances like this, you may be feeling unmotivated for a good reason. The lesson here is to know when to scrap a project. Don’t try to force something that doesn’t work — more ideas will always be waiting for you around the corner.

In Conclusion

By listening to yourself and being open to some experimentation with your work week, you’re bound to find the magic formula for working when you’re at your most motivated.

Remember that everyone is different and what works for some people may not work for others. At the end of the day, nothing will be as useful as listening to yourself and trying a bunch of stuff until you find something that works for you.

After all, in order to make any freelance career work for you, it is key to understand how you work best.