1. Make a schedule! I'm not talking about a super strict by the minute schedule, but a simple and basic schedule can go a long way to help you stay motivated while working through all your freelance work at home jobs for the day.
I personally create a check list that ranges from 6am to 6pm each day Monday through Friday. I fill in each hour with a work at home/freelance job or client's name, the word "family" or anything else I may have to do for the day that is non work related. As I complete each task I scratch it off to give myself a feeling of accomplishment as my list shrinks before my eyes.
This also benefits you because you get to see how long it takes you to complete a task and you can easily adjust your schedule each day as you pick up speed!
2. Set goals! Setting goals for yourself is paramount to maintaining motivation while doing freelance work. What type of goals you set is up to you. You can do daily, weekly or monthly goals based on working a certain number of hours or earning a certain amount of money.
I opt for monthly monetary goals (as you all know already) and I also strive to do a little better each day at maintaining my schedule than I did the day before so that I can increase my productivity over time.
It is also important to adjust your goals regularly so that your freelance success can blossom and grow over time. If you have the same goals each week or month, your motivation will stagnate.
For example my long term goal set is something like this:
- Adjust my goals each month until I earn between $1,000 and $1,500.
- Wean down the amount of time I spend working to reach that amount.
- Re-raise my monetary goal again and repeat the cycle.
3. Think about the long term! You probably aren't starting up as a freelancer and working from home for grins and giggles. Chances are that you are doing it because you need the money. Keeping that in mind will keep you motivated and on the ball all throughout the month, even when things get rough.
It may help at times to think about the long term and what you will accomplish. Perhaps you will be able to get rid of those nasty school loans sooner, purchase a second vehicle for your family or start looking into buying a house once you have established your income as a freelance service provider.
Thinking about things like this will light a fire under your rear even in the darkest of times and keep your motivation at high levels. If you have trouble thinking of the long term, think back to a financially rough time in your life and consider the fact that you are preventing those rough moments from raining down on you again.
Finding motivational methods to keep you on the path to freelance working success will take a bit of trial and error, but it is well worth it in the long run. At this point I am well on my way to being able to make over $1000 a month which is more than I previously made during a month of work at my old virtual call center job. Now I am doing on my terms, creating my own schedule and choosing exactly what types of work I do.
While burnout does rear it's ugly head here and there, I just take a look at what I have accomplished as a freelancer after only a few short weeks and I think about what I can accomplish over the next year as well. With my daily to do list with each task scratched off, my goals in mind and the long term dream of being able to own a house - I have managed to increase my productivity and maintain motivation for my freelance career, even during the ugliest of times.
2 comments:
Great tips for motivation. I use monthly and weekly goals but sometimes a large amount to work towards seems overwhelming. When I feel this way and do not want to work, I break the amount up into small expenses. Just tell myself make 30 dollars tonight and at least get this bill paid then I can relax. Usually, once I made that money I am back on track and want to keep on working.
That's a really great point Jamie.
I personally don't do well with daily cash goals because I tend to set goals that are easily attainable and end up selling myself short haha
You inspired me to keep daily tabs though in my planner so I can start monitoring my daily earnings and set daily goals (as needed) that will prevent me from doing that ;)
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