Breaking Bad: How I’m Stopping My 3 Bad Freelance Designer Habits
Have you become a freelance designer and found it’s different from what you imagined? Or maybe you’ve noticed you’ve picked up some bad habits. You’re not the only one!
In October 2022, I quit my permanent job as a Design Director to work as a freelance designer. This wasn't the first time I had worked for myself. In 2021 I tried freelancing, which only lasted six months as I was lured back to perm life with the security of being on the payroll, a new title, and a senior position in an excellent agency.
When I quit my job in 2022, I promised myself that I would do it differently this time, that I would make freelancing work for me and that I would live that flexible and aspirational life that the idea of working for yourself generates.
However, quickly enough, I've found that I've slipped back into bad habits in less than 2 months:
- I've stopped writing as much and let my social media presence drop.
- I've let all the great habits I did have, frequent exercising, taking breaks and eating well, fall by the wayside.
- And I've let the admin side of freelancing pile up
If this sounds like you, or you're wondering what the reality of freelance life is like, let me save you some time in finding out, and I'll tell you what I'm doing to stop those bad habits from becoming permanent.
Bad Habit #1: I've stopped writing
I've stopped writing entirely.
I understand I’m writing now, but it’s been a while since I’ve written on Medium. This might not sound like a really bad habit, but writing has allowed me to become a better designer. Not only can I articulate my ideas better, but writing has also allowed me to build up an online presence on Twitter, Linkedin and Medium, generating a network where I have found contracts and jobs.
I’ve found when freelancing, you want to keep that online presence consistent so that when a potential client project does come up, you'll be front of mind for those hiring. There’s a risk that I’ve fallen into the typical freelancer behaviour where I only become visible when I need to find work when I really need consistency there to build up a reputation.
So how am I going to solve this? Brute force, most likely!
I plan to write daily and post online or engage with the community in those spaces. That could look like commenting on other people's LinkedIn posts or retweeting others' content. The aim is to make the time I do spend online intentional rather than passively doom scrolling without showing up with purpose.
Bad Habit #12: I've begun prioritising work over self-care
Self-care and prioritising myself have slid to the bottom of the list.
This is a big problem that I've noticed as I need to put others needs ahead of my own. I’ve also found that I’m not alone, other self-employed designers have told me about their need for help with it this challenge.
When we work for ourselves, and we tend to be paid a day rate, and it’s so easy to become focused on constantly working, rarely taking breaks as we never know when the next contract might come up or if a sudden illness might reduce the time we can work.
But we should take breaks before we're ill! Prevention is better than cure.
When I quit my job, I spent a lot of time pouring into my own cup. That looked like daily walks, getting outside each day, and spending time with friends and family during the week. This has slowly changed without me knowing it.
Becoming aware of this slide backwards is the first step. Acknowledging that my current work-life balance differs from where I want it to be is important because it means I can do something about it. So how am I going to stop this bad habit of putting work before myself?
I plan to check in with myself daily and ask myself what I have done for myself today. Have I gone outside? Have I drunk a glass of water? Have I taken time away from the screen to stretch? These don't sound like the big lofty self-care goals we see on Instagram, but it's a start. When we care for ourselves, we're more productive and, most importantly, feel better.
To make this even easier, starting the day by doing something for yourself sets you up for success rather than trying to cram in self-care at the end of the day.
Bad Habit #3: I've let the admin pile up!
No designer chooses the freelance life because they love admin, but it is a huge part of working for yourself.
When I returned to freelance life, I promised myself I wouldn't let my expenses and admin build up to a point where I didn't want to even look at my inbox. And two months in, I still need to open FreeAgent to go through my bills to organise them.
Consistency is vital, and sometimes self-care can look like sorting out your admin too. So my plan going forward is at the end of every work day, check in on my FreeAgent account and make sure I have no outstanding expenses that need receipts attached or transactions to be filed. It sounds like such a small task that repeating it daily seems too much. But I know my future self will appreciate it.
By acknowledging the bad habits early on, we can stop them in their tracks before it gets too hard to change.
Have you noticed some bad habits as a freelance designer? What could you stop or start doing? Have any advice for me to get over my bad habits? Let me know!
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