Staying Motivated as a Freelancer
For freelancers, it’s hard to stay motivated to work. It doesn’t help that we work in environments with plenty of distractions… That we don’t have bosses breathing down our necks… performance evaluations to worry about.
But slacking, procrastinating and getting lazy have terrible consequences for freelancers. If we leave things undone until the last minute, we get more stressed out than necessary. We’re forced to cram, sacrificing not only our sanity and health, but also the quality of our work.
What’s a freelancer to do when the TV and bed are beckoning? When the last thing we want to do is work?
In this post, I’ve made a roundup of some of the best posts on motivation for freelancers (in no particular order). I hope you find them useful!
Top Resources on Motivation for Freelancers
Ten Tips to Stay Motivated — Even When You Really Don’t Feel Like Working
My friend Laura Spencer of Freelance Folder always has good advice for us. These are ten of the best things you could do when you just don’t feel like working (I’m using tip #5 to finish this post).
Small Tips to Stay Motivated Freelancing
A short list, but some of these tips you may never even have thought of, such as tip #2. It could work though.
Stay Motivated While Freelancing
I totally agree with tip #6 — those things can really be a big time suck. And tip #7 was a new idea for me. I’m going to try it!
Freelancers — How Do You Stay Motivated?
Real-life tips from freelancers on LinkedIn. The diversity of responses will help you appreciate how different things work for different people. Check them out and chime in with your own response.
How to Stay Motivated as a Freelancer
Step 8 was a surprise, and I was relieved to see it. I totally agree! I also like the warning not to “force what isn’t there.” Sometimes feelings of laziness are a sign that we’re in the wrong profession.
Freelance Writers Can Stay Motivated with These 7 Tips
While written specifically for freelance writers, many of these tips apply to other freelancers too. I like the first two and should do them more often.
How to Stay Motivated As A Freelance Writer
Some of the tips are for writers only, but you could adapt them to any type of work (if you can get past a few typo errors. Hey, writers make them too!).
Staying Motivated Through the Years
More common-sense advice in this post from fellow Freelance Folder contributor, Amber Weinberg. Pay particular attention to her second tip — it’s what I tell freelancers ALL the time!
Five Ways to Stay Motivated When You Don’t Feel Like Working
This post is short, but I picked up a new idea (tip 1). Try it — it’s great for days when freelancing sucks and you just want to give up.
Staying Motivated or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the work
An honest account of how a work-at-home Mom ran out of steam and rekindled her passion for working again.
Staying Motivated: 10 Great Tips To Increase Your Motivation
Most of these ideas are counter-intuitive, but I can vouch for their effectiveness. Sometimes you just need to trust your creativity.
Over To You
Do you know of any other resources for freelancers who want to jumpstart their motivation and passion for working?
Share your tips and experiences in the comments below and let’s learn from each other.
photo credit: Dan4th
Originally published at thesavvyfreelancer.com.
Lexi Rodrigo is Growth Content Writer at Mirasee.
