My new freelance era!
Tags: freelance, ux, product, productivity
Published: 2024-05-12 01:36:40

In 2022 I lost my full time job as some of you know, if you don't know what I am talking about you can read the story [here](https://dev.to/supeergabs/i-lost-my-job-i-am-depressed-17ja). 
For 6 months I looked for a full time job, I was obsessed with the idea of working in a company. I had a lot of interviews, I did some UX challenges but I didn’t get an offer. Back then I felt that I didn't have enough for UX / Product designer roles, my self-esteem was down. 

Well, in 2023 I decided that I don’t wait for the “call”, for the opportunity, for the validation. I say validation because in my journey looking for a job I learned that I just wait for validation from someone to tell me “You are good, You have impressive experience” . It never happened. 

I decided to start my journey as a freelancer. To be honest at the time I didn't know how to start, how to contact clients, how to start to sell my services, how much they cost… In this first phase I did some projects for web and apps. I felt stuck hahaha in the last 6 months I hadn’t designed or used Figma. At the beginning I felt a bit lost. 

In 2023 I worked on different projects and I had many challenges in my career. In  this post I want to share some learnings from my freelancer phase, or what swifties would call _**my new freelancer era**_. 

**1. Being a freelancer is as valuable as working in a company.**
As a freelancer everyday I have many challenges and I need to move very fast because time is money! My work is not just designing…It  includes many other activities such as: looking at new projects, marketing on social media, customer support, taxes, learning new technologies or tools etc.It is important to be an organized person because as a freelancer we handle many activities at the same time.
 
**2. Don't give more to a company that is not yours.**

I know it is a cliche, but it is true … in my last job I worked a lot, too much… and at the end I got fired, I didn't get equity or anything related. I regretted putting so much effort into something that I wasn’t mine. Now, every day I keep in my mind this is my project, my own company, I am my own company. If I spend the weekend or I sleep late it’s worth it. 

**3. Taxes**

UUUHHH, specifically in Mexico many of us are afraid of them ,but it is not bad at all. I remember that in the past I didn't want to work as a freelancer because I didn't want to handle the taxes, bills, etc. I learned a lot of them and how to do my invoices and pay my taxes every month. I recommend that if you don’t know anything about taxes in Mexico, you need to look for an accountant. I have mine 🙂

**4. Start now** 

We don’t need a lot of technology or equipment. When I started work as a freelancer I just had my laptop, phone,  internet, my google account, Notion and WhatsApp.
I didn’t have a website or logo. Don’t spend your time on these at the beginning. I am not afraid of them, just time is money and it’s more important to get clients than to have a cool website. 


At the beginning I started with the following things:
In my own journey I started with a Notion page (I already used it for my personal things) I knew how to use it, I didn’t need to spend time learning something new. I made some images on _Canva_ and I started to publish them on my social media. I was contacting clients from my personal number (it’s not the best way) but I couldn’t buy a new phone. I used a lot of Google Drive tools. 

After 1.5 years I have my site (still in progress) https://supergabs.com/ I am happy with it, because I did it! 
Available in Spanish Only

**5. Schedule** 

Some people think that freelancers work every day, all day… I have bad news. We don't have a schedule like any employee. In my case I finish my work day at 6:00 pm, which is the normal time in Mexico. I try not to respond to any messages from clients after this time. It's Important to set our schedule for work and personal life. 

> Working as a freelancer requires bravery, resilience, autonomy and many more qualities! Being a freelancer helps me with my own perspective of my job, my own experience, and learning that I am capable of doing that thing I imagine!
 

If you got here I invite you to check my experience work:

- https://dribbble.com/supeergabs
- https://read.cv/supeergabs

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/a8i5p5rk50nvl1uyczh3.jpg)