German Munoz, 25 January 2015

This session was to gather tips for people new to freelancing. Got several different

opinions about how t be productive and make the most of it. Hope it's helpful!

Some people have a hard time being productive at home (I am one of them!). Try

going to a public space, like the British Library or Royal Festival Hall in London. You're

bound to find lots of other freelancers there too!

A common complaint was that it's easy to work 24x7 and never really take time off (i.e.

weekends or holidays). Burn out was a common issue. It was recommended you put

vacation days in your calendar and respect them. Look after yourself and your body.

I was freaked out by all the stressed out “Taxes” tweet I was seeing (it's the end of Jan

after all). It was noted that as long as you read up and prepare with time, you should

generally be OK. The Writer's Guild of Great Britain and Equity provide tax workshops

during the year (as well as the Federation of Entertainment Unions). Although if you're

crap at it and you make enough, it was also recommended you hire an accountant.

Another person recommended an app called iExpenses LT for keeping track of

business receipts/expenses.

==> There's a course coming up by the FEU (see above) about Creative Productivity.

It came highly recommended by a participant.

On the positive side, freelancing gave people a sense of relief and empowerment.

There were certainly tough times, but it was usually worth it for the freedom.

One person recommended having at least one steady, regular source of income (i.e.

teaching a class one night a week). It takes a lot of stress off.

You should structure your day to work for you.

You are your own business. Regular businesses have multiple people doing different

jobs, you have to do it all yourself. See what you're good at, outsource the rest (i,e,

accountant, virtual PA for invoicing).

It was also recommended you imagine you're your own best boss and write your own

job description. Break out the amount of time that's expected and the type of tasks you

need to do.

Every career has a business side and a creative side. Structure your day and give

each side its freedom. Maybe do an Admin day, a Promotion day. Give it structure and

LIMIT it as well, i,e.. don't use it as procrastination. One participant even changed

clothes to do each type of task (awesome!).

Tags:

freelancing, tips, Tips, freelancer

Comments: 1

Dee Ishani, 27 January 2015

The thing about taking time our for the actual business of working for yourself is really important - as is making sure that you

are paid for this time! That time is an ‘overhead’ for your business, just as paying your phone bill is. Wherever possible, the

fees you charge should include a contribution towards this. You need to make sure you can afford that time as much as

possible so that you don't get overwhelmed with project work for others.