There’s no doubt that freelancers need many skills that non-freelancers don’t think about. It’s not enough to simply be a good writer, a good designer, a good web developer (or whatever your specialty is). The need to have these other skills is one of the things that makes freelancing so difficult.
Many blog posts have been written about a freelancer’s need to market one’s self, the need to manage one’s financial affairs, and the need to manage your time well. But, a crucial freelancing skill, self-discipline is rarely mentioned.
In this post, I’ll explain why self-discipline is important to freelancers and provide some examples of instances when self-discipline should be used.
The Hidden Part of the Success Puzzle
In many ways, I think that self-discipline is the hidden part of the success puzzle. We freelancers don’t talk about it much and sometimes I think that we forget about it.
But, the truth is that learning self-discipline is every bit as important to being a successful freelancer as learning to code, design, or write well.
Another reason that we freelancers might not discuss self-discipline is because we’re not quite sure how it fits into the freelancing picture. We don’t know when to exercise self-discipline.
6 Ways to Exercise Freelancing Self-Discipline
If you’re in freelancing for the long haul, then you’ll need some self-discipline. Here are some crucial areas where self-discipline is needed:
- Save Money During the Good Times. As I write this post, I’ve just finished reading blog posts from several other freelancers describing their financial woes. The best way to mitigate the times when your income is lower than normal is to set aside part of your income during your better months.
- Work When No One Is Looking. One thing that freelancers do not have is a boss looking over their shoulder all of the time to check on them and make sure that they are doing their job. A freelancer has to learn to get the work done even if no one is holding him or her accountable.
- Market Yourself. Many freelancers have trouble promoting themselves. (I count myself as part of this group.) However unpleasant marketing may seem to you, if you want to keep your freelancing business afloat, you’ve got to keep on marketing yourself–whether you like it or not.
- Work on Nonpaying Tasks. Not every task that a freelancer does can be directly billed to a client. However, it’s still important to keep up with those parts of your business that don’t generate income, such as bookkeeping, collections, and marketing. Not doing so can cost you a lot of money.
- Keep Your Skills Up to Date. Many corporations require periodic re-training for their employees. As a freelancer, however, it’s up to you to make sure that your marketable skills are up to date. When you’re busy it’s easy to put training off (especially since it doesn’t pay the bills), but don’t do it.
- Control Your Temper. As a freelancer, you may have to deal directly with more people than you ever would have had to face as an employee. What this means is that sometimes you are going to run across clients and others who are less than pleasant. Keep your temper in check no matter what.
What to Do If Your Self-Discipline Fails
This is probably the most important tip of the day. I’ll be first person to say that I don’t follow all of the above advice all of the time perfectly. No one can. Everyone fails from time-to-time.
So what should you do when you’ve had a lapse in self-discipline? What about when you’ve spent your savings? Or, maybe you’ve slacked off on your marketing efforts? What’s a freelancer to do then?
Simple. First of all, don’t panic. Instead, reboot. If you’ve spent your savings, start again to save. If you’ve slacked off on marketing your business, start marketing it again.
Remember, a lapse in self-discipline doesn’t have to be a permanent setback.
What About You?
Do you ever struggle with self-discipline? What additional self-discipline tips would you add?
Share your answers in the comments.
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