Say goodbye to these 5 bad habits to level-up your freelancing career in 2021

Even the most special of unicorns have the odd bad habit. We all do! But some of them could actually be damaging your freelancing career.

Here are five of the most common ones you should leave in 2020 so that you can make 2021 your year to shine.

1. Poor time-management skills

As a freelancer, you might not have to adhere to conventional office hours, but that doesn’t mean that you should spend all week watching Netflix and then rushing to hand in work at the last minute.

Learning to manage your time more effectively will save you a lot of stress. But if willpower alone is not enough to keep you focused, try using a productivity app to help you get things done more efficiently.

2. Not upskilling yourself

In order to guarantee work not just in the present but the future as well, you have to stay relevant and in-the-know when it comes to trends in your field. This will help you to stand out in an over-saturated market. Do this by participating in free online courses, watching videos, listening to podcasts or subscribing to mailers that focus on your area of professional interest.

3. Saying ‘yes’ to everything

Always being a keen bean might seem like a good idea — the more clients the better, right? But it’s important to learn to turn down jobs that don’t align with your career objectives or that you simply don’t have the capacity for. This can also be seen as over-promising, which can often be accompanied by under-delivering. There are only so many hours in a day!

4. Being unprofessional

A solopreneur is a one-person business. As such, you need to be professional in all your business interactions (and watch what you associate with your personal brand on social media as well). Not only should you conduct yourself like the boss you are, but you can keep your reputation in check by producing clean work, on-time that adheres to the brief, while also being punctual with your communication.

5. Having an enormous ego

Life is all about learning from our mistakes and experiences, and you are never too old or too experienced to grow. This is why you should approach any criticism you receive in your professional life as an opportunity to learn something new and to hone your craft. No one likes working with someone who thinks they are perfect, so be mindful to keep your ego in check.