Tag Archive: Lifestyle


Manifesto for a Freelancer with a Family

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October 19, 2010

There are countless potential benefits of being a freelancer, and the list increases if you have a spouse and children sharing the experience with you. Many, like me, are lucky enough to work from home and get to experience family life intertwined with their work on a daily basis. However, I have learned that if I don’t make a concentrated and consistent effort to seize this opportunity, it can be very easy to miss the moments that matter most.

In this post, I will share my personal declarations of my commitment to my family in my freelancing business with the hope that my manifesto will encourage you to create your own. Shouldn’t we all be giving the best of ourselves to our loved ones?

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Four Tips for Freelancing through Adversity

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October 18, 2010

Your freelancing business and most things in your life may be going well now. You may even think this post isn’t for you since you aren’t going through hard times right now.

You would be wrong!

Everyone hits hard time now and then, including freelancers. When comes to adversity, it’s not a question of “if,” but a question of “when.” That’s just life.

In this post, I’ll explain how you can minimize the impact that difficult times have on your freelancing business. This is the topic that nobody wants to talk about, but every freelancer should consider.

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9 Ways to Celebrate Success

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October 13, 2010

Sometimes we freelancers get so caught up in trying to achieve our long term goals, we forget to recognize our own successes.

One of my early posts for this blog was Let’s Party! Why Celebrating Success Can Be The Key To Your Business’s Future. In it, I list five great ways for freelancers to celebrate their achievements.

Over two years later, I’m still convinced that celebrating the business successes along the way to our long term goals is critical to protect freelancers from freelancing burnout. Remember, as a freelancer you’re self employed. No boss is going to come along and recognize you for your extra hard work or your exceptional achievements. It’s up to you to take care of this aspect of business.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to list nine more ways that freelancers can celebrate their successes. At the end, why don’t you share how you celebrate your successes?

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Why & How Freelancers Should Exercise (from Fitness Expert Scott Tousignant)

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September 3, 2010

As freelancers, our biggest assets are our minds and bodies. If we get sick, we can’t do any work. If our minds are foggy, we can’t produce our best. Therefore, we don’t make any money or as much money as we could.

Unfortunately, the care of our bodies is not always a top priority for many freelancers. It’s easy to get caught up in all our work–particularly because we enjoy it so much.

Plus, if you work from home, you have fewer reasons and opportunities to get up, walk and move. I know of at least one writer who can sit in front of her computer for up to six hours straight!

That can’t be good for anybody. In fact, research has shown that sitting for most of the day puts us at higher risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

Scott Tousignant, a fitness expert, recently agreed to share information about the importance of fitness for freelancers. I’d like to share with you a brief excerpt from that interview.

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Five Tips to Help You Protect Your Greatest Freelance Asset

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July 16, 2010

What’s your greatest freelancing asset?

Many would argue that a freelancer’s biggest asset is their time, and to some extent I would agree. It’s very important for a freelancer to use their time wisely.

But, I would argue that an even more important freelancing asset is actually your health. The truth is, you can have a lot of time on your hands, but if you’re too sick to work then all of that free time is not going to help your freelance business.

Worst of all, freelancers don’t have paid sick days. So, for a freelancer being sick usually means a loss of income.

What can a freelancer do to safeguard his or her health? In this post, we’ll share a few tips that you can protect your health.

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Five Freelancing Facts I Could Do Without

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July 7, 2010

I have been freelancing part and full time as a web and graphic designer for over 15 years, and most days I would not trade it for the world. I love being my own boss, working the hours I choose and the joy of being around my family far more often than if I went to an office each day. The positives of my working arrangements far outweigh any negatives I could come up with, so very seldom do I ever even think about them.

Still, there are a few elements to the freelance lifestyle that I could definitely do without. In this post, I will share with you some of my least favorite parts of being a freelancer that I have come to terms with and accepted as facts of the freelance life.

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My Biggest Freelancing Challenge (and How I Didn’t Solve It)

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July 7, 2010

My biggest freelancing challenge is also the primary reason I began freelancing in the first place: my children.

I started dreaming about working from home when I first became a Mom almost 16 years ago. But, back then, I had no idea there were so many ways to earn an income without a regular job. Besides, as my family grew, we needed the medical coverage my job provided.

Fast forward many years later: I have three children and have become Internet-savvy. My head is swimming with the many possibilities for self-employment. With the guidance of experienced, entrepreneurial Moms, I set up shop as a freelance writer and online marketer.

I am giddy. I am living my dream, at last!

And then reality hits. An 18-month-old toddler needs constant attention and does not understand that Mommy needs to be at the computer for hours at a time so that we can buy groceries. To make it worse, he stops needing two naps a day. The house gets dirty again a couple of hours after I vacuum. Plus, older children, even a teenager, still need Mom after all.

A few weeks after my dream became a reality, I was almost crying in frustration. How was I going to get any work done if my family–particularly The Little One–was demanding my attention constantly?

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How to Take a Vacation–Even If You’re Too Busy Or Too Broke

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June 19, 2010

Everyone, including freelancers, needs regular breaks. Vacations are important for our productivity. Taking frequent breaks keeps the mind “sharp” and protects us from the dreaded burnout. Health considerations also require us to make room for more physical activity and adequate rest.

But, freelancers typically use one of these excuses–or both–to work without interruptions, until either illness or a nervous breakdown forces us to stop:

“I’m too busy”

“I can’t afford it”

Even if your project schedule and personal life are both full, and even if your income is barely enough to cover your basic necessities, you can and should take a vacation.

With this post, I’d like to convince you that you CAN afford to take time off. In fact, you can’t afford not to.

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The Freelancer’s Bucket List

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June 15, 2010

In the 2007 film, The Bucket List, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star as two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die. In the process, both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find the joy in life. Their list of things to do before they “kick the bucket” helps them approach their final days with a new lease on life, and they grow together as friends as well as individuals.

The message of the movie is a profound one. Life is short and you never know when you’re going to die, so why wait to do all the things you dream of doing until it’s too late? Translating this message into the realm of freelancing, the challenge becomes one of exploring all that the freelancing life has to offer and reaping the full benefits while in the midst of it, rather than looking back on this time with regrets.

In this post, I will share a few of my own personal freelancing bucket list items and encourage you to examine and begin pursuing your own.

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Freelancing During an Illness

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June 7, 2010

The problem with freelancing is that we don’t have paid sick days! When we get sick, we risk missing deadlines, having unhappy clients or even losing income altogether.

As a number of us joked on Twitter, we freelance writers have to keep writing, even from our graves.

We’re only human… which means illness and death are inevitable.

What’s a freelancer to do?

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