6 Important Skills You Can Acquire With the Help of Freelancing

Freelancing – especially academic writing – is not only about using your writing skills in the best way possible. It can actually help you acquire some important skills to come in handy during your daily activities apart from your freelance occupation.

 1) Time-management – people all over the world pay for time-management classes, attend trainings and basically spend their precious time learning the mysterious science of controlling the time and being productive which, in the long run, can as well prove to be a mere waste of time :) But look – you are practicing your time-management skills every time you get the project done on time!

2) Research skills – it takes a great deal of talent and continuously obtained experience to narrow down your research and sift through megabytes and pages of information to find just what you need, and you can only get lucky enough to stumble upon the correct web/book page just so many times.

3) Self-control

4) Self-discipline

5) Motivation

- Speaking about the three aforementioned skills within the realms of freelancing, you cannot and will not finish the assigned project on time if you do not restrict yourself from some procrastionational callings while working, do not take the responsibility for the uninviting prospects of failing the plan the client counts on, and, last but not least, scrape the words for the sake of the word count, not being motivated and interested in the subject of research.

6) Communication skills – working on a freelance basis does require quite a bit of communication. Though performed mainly online, it still develops your communication skills, as it is much harder to put the information in the typed words not being able to rely on non-verbal communication techniques: body language, intonation, gestures, etc.

The entire writing process, as you see, consists of constant self-improvement. Seize the opportunity to become better and better with every page, project and day!

A Few Tips For a Freelancer to MAKE Oneself GET BACK to WORK!

Vacations, Vacations, Vacations...

So sweet and precious word that rarely wants to let you go if you're self-employed 😓 But your bills still keep reminding you that you have to, so let's find a few ways to make this process the least painful and hard! 

Magic of Procrastination!

 

While freelancing allows for a flexible schedule and the possibility to control the workload on your own, which are definitely the perks of being self-employed 😉 ; the human factor can take its toll and motivate one to indulge into the world of procrastination. Yes, it can be refreshing and highly satisfying to let your hair down and take some time off; however, sooner or later the responsibilities will call to be handled, and this is when successful time-management becomes desperately needed.

 

Hmm... Time-management... Let's Start With "to-do list" Then!

One thing you can do not to waste the precious time and not to allow the harsh reality to break all over you once it’s finally time to go back to your duties is to write a to-do list for after the holidays (but do not throw it away or hide somewhere 😂). This way, you will be constantly reminded about the things left to be done and taken care of, which will enable you to distribute leisure and working activities without any harm to the affairs waiting to be coped with.

The Greatest Inspiration Is the Deadline!

Another thing you can do is to set strict deadlines and goals for your time off: for example, if you plan to stop working for a while and enjoy the holiday season with your loved ones, it is a great idea to set up the exact date when you are to be back to your duties. This way, you will make sure to enjoy your leisure to the fullest, and not postpone coming back to work again, which may reflect negatively on your performance and – of course – earnings. 

Also, you can set a goal to earn a certain amount within, say, two weeks after coming back to work – as to cover up your holiday spendings and get into the working schedule rightfully.

A Few More Words Left...

In the end, leisure can be also viewed as it is by Mortimer Adler: “Work is toil: what one does only to earn a living. If it gives pleasure, it is leisure.”

So, let's have a pleasant time and get to work according to the schedule! 😃