3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Quitting Your Job to Go Independent
Deciding to work for yourself could be the best decision you’ll ever make. Be sure that you’re prepared to take the plunge by answering these three questions.
There’s one thing that all those who have never freelanced seem to have in common… their incredible ability to romanticize the freelance lifestyle.
They imagine that ‘freelance’ equates to complete freedom – from office life, long hours, and stress. They mistake ‘working remotely’ for ‘working with the TV remote in hand’. And to them, ‘working from home’ simply means you’ll have plenty of time to get things done around the house.
Reality check: real life freelancing is not like this. And the freelancers of Twitter are not afraid to let you know what it’s actually like.
Here are 18 tweets that give you a glimpse into the life of a freelancer.
We’re (usually) fully clothed
Huge disruption on my way to work this morning. Couldn’t find my dressing gown. #freelanceproblems #tubestrike
— Peter Geoghegan (@PeterKGeoghegan) February 5, 2014
Every time I leave the house I have a moment of, “OMG am I wearing pants??” #freelanceproblems
— XO Sarah (@xosarahmorgan) November 14, 2014
I was considering putting the heating on just now and then realised putting trousers on was probably a better option. #FreelanceLife pic.twitter.com/5gln2puqiM
— Emily Leary (@AMummyToo) September 20, 2018
Freelancing takes a lot of self-motivation
Sitting here in a quiet house with work to do, but am considering not doing it and just eating cookies instead. #freelancelife #writing #cookies #momlife
— Secretly a badass 🛫 (@jayneairplane) September 27, 2018
Me: Has a shit load of work on her desk.
Also me: Why not organize my 349697 songs playlist right now?#freelanceproblems #procrastination
— Sherlaya 🐯 (@Sherlaya) April 16, 2018
The work isn’t always steady
the life of a freelancer consists of endless worry about work not coming in followed by…..HOLY SH*T why did I agree to all this work. #FreelanceProblems pic.twitter.com/Q4FxWzfO73
— Luke Butland (@LST_MIND) April 11, 2018
Had a slowish week so allowed myself a couple of days away. Now have a gazillion urgent projects on the table! Time off = equivalent of popping kettle on just before unexpected visitor turns up. #freelancelife #copywriting #amwriting #passthecoffee
— Annie Writes (@Annie_Writes_) September 27, 2018
And neither are the paychecks
Waiting to be paid like . . . #FreelanceLife pic.twitter.com/JQdjKGK1F0
— Ali Campbell (@AliCampbell_68) September 18, 2018
There should be a little fanfare that plays when you check your online banking to find that two long-awaited invoices have just been paid. Now to finally land the white whale of the really big outstanding one. #freelancelife
— Paul Clammer (@paulclammer) September 26, 2018
Sometimes clients think ‘freelance’ means the work is free
“We love your work and would love you to work on a project for us. We cant pay you but it will be great exposure “🤢#freelanceproblems #exposure #dontworkforfree pic.twitter.com/NCEMoqWq0N
— Matt Needle (@needledesign) June 14, 2018
Too much free, not enough lance…
#freelanceproblems
— 🎃Dansylvania👻 (@DanFiorella) June 14, 2018
There’s no rest for the freelancer
Me: I really need to give myself a day to relax.
Also me: Of course I’ll take on that assignment last minute!#FreelanceLife— Adam Bernard (@AdamsWorldBlog) September 28, 2018
People talking about something called a “long weekend”. Baffling. I’ll be working tomorrow. #freelancelife
— Tim Richards (@Aerohaveno) September 27, 2018
Career goals: a life where a weekend is actually a weekend and not for catching up on emails. #freelanceproblems #authorproblems
— Emma Adams (@ELAdams12) May 1, 2016
Freelancing comes with some unique problems
I have a real problem right now, there is a serious lack of refreshments in my office. And by refreshments I mean wine and by office I mean sofa. #freelanceproblems#freelancer #office pic.twitter.com/qv9WY1O0PV
— Pip Jones (@pip_says) March 9, 2018
So engrossed while working in a coffee shop I only now realized I’ve been bopping somewhat over-energetically to “It’s Raining Men” on the sound system. Might be time to switch locales. #freelancelife
— Shane Schick (@shaneschick) September 28, 2018
Is today Wednesday or Thursday? Asking for a friend. #freelanceproblems #kidlitart
— jenn harney (@jennharknee) September 12, 2018
Like having to suddenly learn about stuff like taxes
I just did my taxes and I feel like need to take a nap for two days. #brainisfried #freelanceproblems #workfromhome
— Amber Osborne (@MissDestructo) February 23, 2017
But we’re here to make some of that stuff easier
I use @andco to track all of my business expenses, contracts, payments and proposals, and they do the letter as well. It’s a free product 😊. And when you send invoices, you know as soon as someone has opened it.
— Mila Clarke Buckley (@thehangrywoman) September 25, 2018
omg guys I’ve just started out with this freelancing app and it is THE SHIT, i feel like this gives me the tools to streamline my work habits ;-; I’m just so happy organising my stuff in one place https://t.co/wd1AtPdLO0 @andco
— 💀 V i V i s e c t 💀 { TOS: hiatus! } (@Vimeddiee) September 10, 2018
See what we’re all about here. Or tweet us about your #FreelanceLife @andco.
