27 Dec Self-employed: 3 ways to motivate yourself when you’re not giving your 100%
As freelancers, discipline is a fundamental trait to cultivate. Considering that you have the benefits of a flexible schedule, it is very important that you remain firm in your daily relationships with your clients so that your business works well.
Stay motivated in your work
Therefore, maintaining high motivation for your work is a top priority. But hey, who doesn’t have downtime? Sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged when you’re not living independently, or when it doesn’t meet your expectations for flexibility.
That is why it is crucial that you know what it is that serves as motivation for freelancers like you.
Remember why you decided to be a freelancer
When you remember what it was that drew you to the circle of freelancers, you will be grateful that you got to where you are now, even if things are not really going well.
Typically, freelancers decide this because they want more control over their schedule and more freedom to choose projects and tasks. That said, it’s easy to fall into the trap of not following up on the customer on time.
It could be something related to time management or just a lack of motivation. If it is the latter, then you must recognize that the amount of money you make is determined by the amount of time and hard work that you are willing to put in.
Start at the bottom and go little by little
High productivity is what makes a freelancer successful. This not only affects your income but also affects your reputation among other freelancers. A good reputation for quick (and quality) project completion will translate into more client offerings.
This way you will have more freedom of action to choose those with whom you would really like to work.
As a freelancer, you will definitely have to start small, which means that you may not get a lot of project offers, and therefore may not be able to live decently in the early stage.
Well, one way to stay motivated is to remind yourself that eventually, the hard work will pay off in terms of getting more and better deals.
Light the flame
It’s easy to lose your creative sense when you’re busy with deadlines. When you put an emphasis on completing the project in a short period of time, you become more concerned with getting your work done rather than doing it creatively or aesthetically.
This leaves little room to indulge in your passion for freelancing. You must feed it or it will gradually die. Are you losing your motivation? This could be the reason, so seek to surround yourself with things that inspire you.
Work can create a love-hate relationship between you and your passion. You are passionate about your work but at the same time, you hate how your livelihood depends on your passion. It’s no longer fun when there’s a lot of responsibility for what was once your hobby.
The bottom line is that you shouldn’t just make your work your passion. You still need to allot time to fuel your interest outside of work. Some people can enjoy their work no matter how overwhelming it may be, but for most, they still have to take time away from work for inspiration.
Use flexibility to your advantage
The wonderful thing about being a freelancer is that it allows you to take your own breaks. You can go to eat, take breaks, or even leave your work station anytime you want. Not many jobs offer this kind of freedom.
Not leaving things for tomorrow
On the downside, you may be tempted to procrastinate when no one but you is supervising work. To curb those temptations and stay motivated, what you can do is give yourself the appropriate time to rest.
Give yourself little breaks
Just as dietitians advise people to eat lots of small, light meals throughout the day in order to avoid unhealthy snack cravings, you should take short breaks while working on your projects.
This way, you won’t be overwhelmed with handling all the work over a long stretch, and you’ll end up taking the rest of the day to yourself. In addition to the advantage of staying motivated, taking frequent breaks also helps you refresh yourself each time you have to return to your obligations.
Primacy effect
In fact, psychologists have found that you can absorb and remember the things you work on the most when you start working on them. They call this the primacy effect. Therefore, if you take multiple breaks, you will perform better each time you return to work after your breaks.
This translates into better performance and mood for the entire project you are managing, which then serves as a good motivation to maintain good performance.
Try these ways to motivate yourself, and begin to truly perform!
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