3 Biggest Mistakes Freelancers Make and How to Avoid Them

Are you guilty of making these mistakes?

I have been! This post is a simple breakdown of what I’ve learned from experience, often the hard way. These mistakes have cost me money, time, but most importantly – they’ve cost me my joy.

What good is having a successful business if you are stressed, tired, and overwhelmed all the time? Or how hard is it to justify time away from your family or other passions when it’s NOT paying well enough to sustain you?

This is what we’re trying to avoid.

If I could have had someone more experienced in business step in during my early years, it would have been so helpful. Now I get to be that for you – no matter if you’re brand spanking new or have maybe been freelancing for years!

It’s time to eliminate these mistakes:

1 // NOT HAVING BOUNDARIES FOR YOURSELF or taking care of yourself.

Trust me, I burnt out big time. I love my job and I am sure you do/will as well so it’s easy to get caught up in it and never take time off. I’m also guilty of never taking time off to do simple things like use the washroom or eat. Remember why you started a business – it probably wasn’t just to be busy. Make sure you’re taking time for family, practicing self care, and saying no when needed!

2 // Not knowing how long it actually takes you to do things.

This is a fairly easy problem to solve! Toggl is an amazing free tool that helps you track your time. It’s impossible to know how to price yourself properly if you don’t know how long it takes to do things. When you first get started, this is especially a challenge because you might not have done a ton of the tasks before. Time tracking helps you see where your estimation and reality line up (or don’t). It’s also good for even experienced freelancers to do a time audit on tasks and make sure that you’re being profitable! P.S. Remember to time track emails and meetings and other communication that can be a sneaky time suck!

3 // Not taking the time to work on your business and rather spending all your time working IN IT.

Overwhelmed by daily tasks? Have an endless to do list? Don’t know where you’re going because you’re so busy keeping afloat? Those are signs that you’re working in the wrong places as the CEO. Adapting a CEO mindset can be difficult at first, but you have to be willing to spend time strategically planning and being the leader. This might mean outsourcing more little tasks that anyone can do. It might just look like blocking off time each week to focus on the big picture!

Which of these three mistakes do you struggle with the most?