The 5 biggest freelancer struggles and how to overcome them

If you’re reading this, I’m going to take a stab in the dark and say you’re probably self-employed *on that note alone, let’s all take a moment to raise a (tall and preferably strong) glass in your honour*. As we know too well, freelancing is no easy feat. In fact, it’s equal parts rewarding and exhausting. 

On the plus side, you get to do the work you love on the daily, crafting your own schedule and fuelling your passions. But then there are those other days (you know the kind), where the world has other plans for you, it can feel like everything is out of control and leave you questioning why you started it all in the first place.

Sound familiar? Read on as we’ve put together a list of solutions to the most common struggles we face as a one (wo)man show.

Struggle #1: Help! Where’s the off switch? 

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and hustle during the early stages of business. But if we’re not careful, those ‘one-in-a-blue-moon’ late nights slowly become habit—soon it’s a struggle to think of anything other than your business. The reality is, there’s nothing productive about a long-term hustle. So, it’s time to leave overworking at the door and come up with ways you can completely disconnect from your business. 

Granted, the solution for this will be different for everyone, but it’s important to work out ways to get out of your own head. Set yourself strict OOO hours. Ensure you’ve got those pesky notifications turned off and don’t even think about looking at your emails during this time. If you find your fingers wandering, you may need to leave your phone in another room and try distracting yourself with something else – a good book, an entertaining podcast, a drive around the block (windows down, music blasting in my personal opinion). 

Struggle #2: The underlying fear of a (or an actual full-blown) work drought

It’s easy to spend time worrying about the clients you don’t have or what will happen when you notice the work dry-up. The reality is, your workflow and capacity is in a constant state of ebb and flow. There will be patches of time where work may feel like it’s drying up. But that doesn’t have to be a scary thing. Quite the opposite—that’s when the fun starts.

Let’s talk about proactive pitching.

Being self-employed, there’s no such thing as quiet and humble, you’re inadvertently always selling yourself and what value you have to offer the world.

So, you know that list of dream clients we all have saved in our notes? Well, there’s no time like the present to drop them a DM and let them know why you admire them and how you could add value. You’d be surprised how many of these notes and emails are responded with a friendly ‘well…we’ve been looking at investing in this’ or ‘what convenient timing’. You know what they say, you’ve got to be in it to win it.

You could also reach out to past clients, offer them a free 30-minute check-in call to see how they are doing and how business has been since you’ve last spoken with them. Often these calls turn into brainstorms and next minute, you’ve got your next project lined up!

Use downtime to max out on networking.

We might not be able to attend events (much yet) but what about grabbing a coffee with a fellow biz-owner in your area or scheduling an afternoon zoom and wine with someone a little further away. If you are part of any online communities, show up to their events and make an effort to connect—familiarity builds trust and you might just pick up a great opportunity that way too. You never know what magic may come from a simple and genuine connection.

So, when times are looking a little more quiet than usual, know your worth, trust in the process and get proactive pitching (sans that sleazy sales tactics). 

Struggle #3: Teetering on the edge of burnout and losing your creative mojo

Creativity is a funny old thing. Some days you are killing it, then others, 3:30itis has kicked in and we are feeling bound by our to-do list wondering why the caffeine from our 4th coffee run hasn’t kicked in yet. Enter: burnout. When you’re stuck in a constant state of blurgh(!) it’s easy to fall into maintenance mode. You know, the state where you just can’t find your flow and feel like every second task falls into the too-hard-basket. And when you feel bogged down with work, it’s easy to forget why you started.

Now, I don’t know about you, but we are pretty determined to leave the word burnout in 2020 along with the disease-that-shall-not-be-named. It’s important to take time away from your business to ensure you are filling up your own cup.

Let’s start with an easy one.

Create a personal joy-list by writing down all your simple pleasures in life.

This is a beautiful practice for personal life (not just business) to serve as a reminder to slow down and a home-run to increase serotonin levels. A few of my personal favourites; a moment of stillness in the ocean, cloud-gazing, an impromptu dance break, and taking an extra 15 minutes to dine in for coffee and watch the world go by rather than getting takeaway. 

Schedule in time for yourself on the regular to ensure you’re the most productive version you can be.

Take yourself on what is known as an artist date, a term coined by Julia Cameron and shared with me by the lovely Viv Kruckow. Essentially block out your calendar for a whole hour once a week and do something that allows you to be completely immersed in something other than your craft. We rarely give ourselves time to get sit with our thoughts and when we are forced to do so, we usually come up with some great ideas.

Struggle #4: Loneliness and isolation, what more can we say, working alone isn’t always fun.

Despite being able to wear pajama bottoms all-day every-day, there are a lot of challenges that come with working in isolation. There’s no one around to bounce ideas off, nobody to counteract overwhelm, nobody to share in your highs, lows (and all the messiness in between) and most importantly, no one is there to call you out for when you’ve found yourself scrolling in a social media vortex for 10 minutes too long.

It’s quite hard to recognise when you’re lacking human connection, but I’ll give you a hint. it’s probably around the time you start having full-blown conversations with your cat, or you find yourself chatting to your delivery guy a little longer than socially acceptable. 

And that, my friends, is where humans and a community like Cool Wow Collective (or any other community) comes in.

Thanks to the internet it’s easier than ever to find like-minded communities and although we may be biased, we think the #coolwowclub is a gold-star-worthy group.

We’re a talented group of entrepreneurs, all at different stages of business. If you’re seeking a little inspiration, in need of people to bounce around ideas, ask for advice, develop relationships, heck maybe you just need a place to vent (a healthy whinge is totally acceptable). Not to mention coworking (even when virtual) is a game-changer for productivity. Doors are swinging open for new freelancers and founders to join soon (find all the details here) so maybe it’s time to leave that loneliness at the door and say hello to a creative bunch of like-minded souls (your happiness will have us to thank).

Struggle #5: Spending all your time on emails and client demands with little time to work ON your biz

We get it, business comes with the territory of being busy. But it doesn’t (always) have to be this way. We need to remove the feeling of treading on water and attempting to ‘just survive’. As business owners, we need to thrive. That often means putting a pause on client work or external demands and carving out time to work ON your business, rather than just in it.

When you give yourself the chance to take a step back, away from any and all distractions it allows you the space to innovate, create something fresh, set some brand-spankin new goals and brainstorm the heck about how you build this business of yours. 

Don’t believe us? Good, you don’t have to. Because we are going to SHOW you just how magic these days can be.

We’re here to hold your hand, show you exactly what you can create with a clear intention, dedicated time (and a sprinkle of fairy dust). We’ll dish out daily lessons and help you completely reimagine your way of working with our free 5-day ‘Make it Happen’ productivity challenge. Reckon you’ve got what it takes? That project you’ve been putting off for weeks (ekk maybe even months) isn’t going to know what hit it. 

Over to you!

Share your biggest struggle in the DM’s on IG @coolwowcollective and let us know what tips you found worthwhile!