When you are a freelancer, money is unpredictable. It may come late or not at all, so think things through before you quit your job. Here are the struggles of freelancers because freelancing is hard!
Struggles of freelancers — very relevant. I love being a freelancer because I have full control over my time, the people I work with, and the type of job I do.
However, there are times when I struggle to finish my assignments because I crave working with a team. I want to be part of a team, and talk.
Freelancing is hard because you do everything! Here are the struggles of freelancers we will talk about in this post:
- It gets boring because you are not part of a team.
- How much you earn depends on your productivity levels.
- If you don’t have a strong portfolio, it is hard to find work.
- Some clients will pay late or not at all.
- Too much freedom is overwhelming.
Let’s begin.
5 Struggles of Freelancers Because Freelancing Is Hard
I started freelancing in December of 2019. I didn’t like it at first because I wasn’t strong enough to handle that kind of autonomy and instability.
My income depends on how willing I am to work. Sometimes, I am not in the mood to do any work for 24 hours, and that affects my cash flow.
I am also managing my own projects, and I honestly enjoy it more than working for someone else. And I quit several clients because of that in the past.
This is why having savings and living frugally are important when freelancing, especially if you have lazy days like me. You don’t want to be broke!
Also, I am an introvert, but doing solo activities is sometimes boring to me.
At my previous work, we had weekly meetings. I also talked to co-workers about projects in the comments section daily. I miss that.
Having this much control over my life is great, but no man is an island. I have friends, but they don’t understand my work, so I don’t bother talking about it.
Some freelancers can find a job easily, while some don’t. I was actually struggling to find clients until I set up my personal website, which is strong.
But let’s talk about the struggles of freelancers in more detail. Freelancing is hard!
1. It gets boring because you are not part of a team.
One of the struggles of freelancers is boredom.
Sometimes, I think about going back to being a full-time employee because I really like collaborating with other people and talking with them about work.
Now that I am a freelancer, no one in my life understands what I go through because they are employees. And they aren’t interested.
That is fine because I am not interested in their work, too.
If you are uninterested in people just like I am, SocialSelf has a guide on how to be interested in them if you want to.
If I get so bored, I look for virtual office mates on Google. But I can’t find any company that offers that service!
I think that is a good business idea if you are an entrepreneur. I once downloaded an app that allows me to talk to a robot. Funny!
Also, I am a writer. There is nothing interesting about typing text in a document. So, my everyday life is mostly black and white.
I talk to clients, but conversations with co-workers are different because you know that you are in the same bubble. You are part of the team, not an outsider.
2. How much you earn depends on your productivity levels.
I am not always productive. Sometimes, it is because I am lazy. Other times, I just feel unmotivated because, as I said, I crave co-workers.
But not co-workers like the person who got me fired.
I have personal projects, so my time is very divided.
Indeed explains that while multitasking allows you to finish tasks in no time, the quality will likely suffer because of mental and creative blocks, and poor memory retention.
I don’t have any problem with not being an active freelancer, but I know that I can earn more if only I become active.
At this point, freelancing is not my priority; my personal projects are.
But I am creating an overlap between them. I will submit guest posts to increase my readership. Some blogs pay for guest posts, so that is freelance work.
3. If you don’t have a strong portfolio, it is hard to find work.
I mentioned earlier that I struggled to find work when I didn’t have a personal website yet. It is not necessary to have a personal website, but it helps.
I have 3 SSL-secured websites, 4 domain names, and 1 professional email. I pay around $250 every year to keep them active!
I have been a GoDaddy user since 2019, and I recommend it. Although for SSL certficates, I go with Namecheap.
If you don’t want to pay for website fees (because setting up a website is not free), there are free platforms out there that you can use to share your work samples.
You can actually store your work samples in Google Drive, and then share the link with the client when you are applying for a job or submitting proposals.
In my opinion, a self-hosted website is necessary only if you are a web designer or web developer by profession, or you want to make money blogging.
4. Some clients will pay late or not at all.
I am glad that I don’t have clients who pay late. If they pay late, the reason is valid.
But I had difficult clients years ago, and I had to remind them about payment. I met them when I was depressed from 2020 to early 2021, so it stressed me out.
I was financially struggling in 2020.
When you are financially struggling, you will lose your sanity because you are desperate, and what you are looking forward to is the day you will get paid.
But the good thing is that even the least amount can make you happy. I was getting paid $10 for a 1,000-word article, but it was okay to me.
Elna Cain says freelance writers’ rates vary depending on their expertise and experience, as well as whether they want to be paid by the hour or per word.
That was better than nothing. You will learn to appreciate the little things if you experience having nothing. Reaching rock bottom humbles you.
I went through months of not getting any salary, which is why my services now are affordable. Sometimes, if I like the person, I will not charge them.
When you become a freelancer, money is unpredictable. It may come late or not at all, so think things through before you quit your job.
5. Too much freedom is overwhelming.
Too much freedom is also one of the freelancer struggles, sometimes.
You will more likely be able to discipline yourself if you are an employee. Freelancers flexibly work from home, so the line between work and life is thin.
When I was a full-time employee, the calendaring method worked for me because I had one employer.
Now that I am a full-time freelancer, to-do lists work better. I work with many clients and have personal projects, and listing down my tasks helps me focus.
According to WebMD, some symptoms of ADHD are lateness, forgetfulness, low self-esteem, anxiety, boredom, mood swings, and depression.
I think I have mild ADHD because I tend to get distracted easily. But maybe it is just who I am and not a disorder.
Also, because my schedule is flexible, I can choose not to work on weekdays or to do the work on weekends. It is good, but it makes me want to do things later.
I procrastinate a lot! But I am trying to fix that because I know it is unhealthy, especially considering that I want to achieve more this year.
Last Words
I am not a struggling freelancer now if we talk about getting clients. What I mostly struggle with is managing my time and workload.
I work with different clients and I do different things for them, and then I also have my own projects and some social responsibilities.
My life confuses me sometimes, and that is one of the reasons why I can’t just accept any work or find more clients. I might go crazy!
Freelancing is hard. Can you overcome these freelancer struggles?
If you enjoyed reading the struggles of freelancers (because freelancing is hard), here is a video of me talking about my freelancing journey:
