5 Challenges All Freelancers Face
By: Daniel Kaniowski
Tags: Freelancing, Digital Nomads

5 Challenges All Freelancers Face

What can we do to overcome them?

Photo by Anna Auza on Unsplash

It’s easy calling yourself a freelancer when business is flourishing — but what about when the work dries up? That growing sense of self-doubt and crippling loss in motivation that sets in when you have now gone a week without a payed client. Are you now just an unemployed loser? No, of course not! But that doesn’t stop you opening up the Indeed website, to see what’s out there.

Freelancing can seem like the dream for many — you have the freedom to work wherever and whenever you want, you get to avoid dealing with an angry boss and most importantly you’re doing something you enjoy. Right? Unfortunately sooner or later the rose-colored glasses have to come off — the work dries up, you’re dipping into your emergency savings and you lose all sense of direction in your craft. You can very quickly go from feeling like a freelancer to a flop and the reality sets in; freelancing is no walk in the park.

Irregular work and consequently, irregular pay

“You can work whenever you want, from wherever you want. That’s the dream… I don’t know what you’re complaining about”

Finding clients and monetising your content is not always easy, and never a certainty. All freelancers will know that there are times where things just don’t go your way. The flow of work and income grinds to a halt and you begin to entertain the idea of an office job, letting it wither away at your fairytale hopes of self-made success. There is no doubt about it — finding clients and establishing regularity in your work will prove to be the most challenging element of your trade.

Irregular work is not only mentally challenging – the feeling that you’re grounded as life rushes on past you is unnerving to say the least — but it also wrecks havoc with your circadian rhythm, causing you to miss meals, stay up late nights and sleep late into the day. All factors which contribute to diminishing motivation and consequently a breakdown in routine, leading to the false impression that you have nothing to do, which of course couldn’t be further away from the truth. In reality as freelancers there is always something we could be doing to expand the reach of our content and grow our brands — obtaining more clients and ultimately establishing a stable stream of employment.

To boost your chances of regular work make sure to work on your online presence. This includes things such as your personal website, social media platforms and freelancing sites such as Fiverr or UpWork. The bottom line is, the more of the boxes you fill, the bigger your clientele. No one wants to pay £150 for a website from someone who has a grey silhouette as their display picture.

Lack of self-motivation

“I bet you don’t miss your boss constantly nagging you”

Im sure — like myself — most freelancers don’t miss having a boss. However, a lot of us can’t deny that the; not so friendly reminder from the boss urging you to get a move on, ultimately does push us to get it done. We don’t want to, but we need to hear it. However, as a freelancer, it is solely your individual responsibility to give yourself that push and keep motivated, which can prove tricky for many of us.

Staying motivated requires you to be your own boss — set yourself targets and ensure you stick to them. Schedule your tasks and manage time — the most valuable resource we hold. Work late if you don’t manage to complete something you marked as important; be strict with yourself. Most importantly you need to cultivate a healthy work-ethic, which can only be achieved through time and perseverance.

One method I find helps motive me and nurtures healthy working habits is listening to other peoples experiences in freelancing. Taking the time to understand peoples experiences not only teaches you vital lessons without the burden of the consequences that might of followed, but also mobilises you to act. As a freelancer this is your bread and butter when it comes to self-development — there isn’t a degree or webinar that will help you unlock all the secrets, it’s up to you to find them along your journey.

There are many virtual and physical forums for you to connect with others and find that spark that will get you firing on all cylinders — from networking events to our old pal YouTube and TedTalks. Remember the old saying that you are the average of the sum of people you spend most of your time with. Spend time with, or study people who are motivated and with time their attitudes and behaviours will begin rubbing off on you.

Freelancing can be a lonely place

“I work best on my own so freelancing would be perfect for me”

I always dreaded the idea of being a mere pawn in a project that i would never get to call my own. The ability to work independently, without restrictions and truly free to express myself won me over immediately. For all its worth for increased productivity, i never found myself fully won over by the ideologies put forward in the theories of division of labour and always felt Karl Marx’s comments that it alienates the worker from the production process — “causing him [ or her] to become depressed spiritually and physically to the condition of a machine” — rang true.

Unfortunately this is an old case of ‘the grass is greener…’. Whilst you may benefit from the ability to work independently; really own your work, you’re also faced with the daunting reality of constant solitude. You and your pixels. This is the unavoidable reality of freelancing. However, as the the list of incentives for many to hang up their suits and move their office to within inches of their bed grows, and so does the community — the list of opportunities to connect with other, like-minded individuals grows.

This is yet another reason why networking as a freelancer is so important. Not only does it provide you with vital business and client contacts, it also allows you to feed that natural appetite for social interaction in a way that not only benefits you but your business.

I would also encourage those of you that may feel isolated in your work to try and change up the environments you work in — maybe opt to work in coffee shop instead of a library. If you know other freelancers, arrange to go work together and grab a bite to eat or a drink whilst you do it. Alternatively you can look into sites like Meetup that will connect you with others in your field.

A world of distractions

“Doing to same thing everyday is so boring, at least freelancing you get a choice of what you do and when you do it”

It’s all well and good having the freedom of choice, but countless studies have shown that an over saturation in option can cloud our ability to chose — leaving you puzzled about your next move.

A growing list of freelancers now fall into the ‘digital nomad’ category. Digital nomads work remotely — out of any location imaginable — with only the help of a laptop and internet connection.

Many freelancers and digital nomads may find they are unable generate stable enough income (at least at first) through a single craft. You may be tempted by multiple ventures — vlogging, blogging, drop shipping or any other forms of e-commerce, slipping dangerously close to ‘a jack of all trades, master of none’. The temptation of a new venture will undoubtably divert your attention away from your other crafts. There’s only so much time in the day; be weary of wasting it. If you want to prosper in freelancing, you need to be good at what you do, so naturally you cannot afford to spread your attention too thin.

This is why I always advise the first thing for anyone thinking of going into freelancing to work on is their planning and organisation. It really is key. I would recommend starting out with something like Evernote, which allows you to create lists, calendars and add notifications. It also allows you to tag notes according to categories (assigned by you) — leaving your notes and to-do lists neatly organised in one place and accessible from any device.

Not only can you become distracted by the plethora of nomadic paths available to you, you’re also vulnerable to distractions in your surroundings — be it your dog, a mesmerising sunset, your xbox or even what you’re gonna have for dinner. The nature of your working environment means you’re far from being isolated from the things you enjoy most — like you would be in that 2x2m cubicle you have at work.

Finding a place free of distraction can be crucial to a stable workflow. What works for one person may not work for you so try a few different places and see where you’re most productive. This could be anything from a coffee shop, the library or that quiet spot at the end of the beach.

Vague client requests

“I want something that looks good… shows off my brand”

What is good? I will not begin to explain the frustration ambiguous requests brew in me. I once had one client (in my Fiverr days whilst studying at university) that asked me to create a ‘good looking logo that fits his brand’. There was of course no word of a brand, no clear template to go by, not even a website. Just the note that he works in home-improvement. After about 5 drafts I ended up apologising and parting ways with the client. It was nigh-on-impossible to figure out what he wanted and there’s only so much you can do with hammer and hard-hat vectors.

Im sure many freelancers can sympathise with the difficulties posed by ambiguous client requirements. Its like being expected to paint the Sistine Chapel with nothing but a black sharpie and broken HB pencil.

Avoiding this is simpler than it looks — I’ve learnt that with time. The fault isn’t so much with the client, but with you (sorry not sorry!). Tell the customer exactly what information you need to complete the project you were tasked with — it’s as simple as that. Create a list of questions that will equip you with the right tools to do your best work.