Summary

An individual's premature attempt at freelancing reveals the importance of financial planning, structured routines, diligent work ethic, and overcoming procrastination for a sustainable and successful transition from traditional employment.

Abstract

The author of the article shares personal insights from a brief stint in freelancing, emphasizing the harsh realities of living without a steady income and the rapid depletion of savings. Despite having a detailed plan and a desire to embrace the freelance lifestyle, the lack of structure and discipline led to unproductive habits and a failure to meet self-imposed deadlines. The experience underscores the necessity of being financially prepared, maintaining a strong work ethic, and having clear business strategies to combat old habits and ensure a smooth transition into full-time freelancing. The author acknowledges being underprepared and has returned to a consulting job to support their entrepreneurial aspirations, with the intention of being better equipped for future self-employment.

Opinions

The transition from a stable job to freelancing can be financially shocking, as savings diminish quickly without a steady income.
Having a structure to the day is crucial for freelancers to avoid chaos and ensure productive use of time.
A detailed plan alone is not sufficient for successful freelancing; one must be ready to execute it with hard work.
Old procrastination habits can persist into freelancing and hinder progress, requiring strategies to overcome them.
It is essential to have a clear vision and guaranteed sources of income before fully committing to freelancing.
Freelancers should be prepared to hire others for tasks they are not skilled at or cannot manage alone.
The author believes that their early attempt at freelancing was a learning experience that will inform better preparation for a future attempt.

4 Takeaways From Someone Who Tried Freelancing Too Soon

“It’s never too early to start” does not apply here…

Last year, I had a huge desire to go freelance and never work for corporate America again. I was finished with my Master’s degree and miserable in the midst of my first job. I was waiting for my “dream job” (at the time) in consulting.

I was so enamoured by the consulting lifestyle. The hard and long hours rewarded by travel and status luxury through reward systems and points.

The job was inevitably delayed due to COVID.

December of 2020 comes along and I finally have a confirmed start date for my new job for the end of January 2021. I was itching for something new in my job and had a huge rush of inspiration and ambition to explore my entrepreneurial side.

I daydreamed of being a freelancing artist and writer and being able to eventually travel the world and live this glamorous life of a freelancer. These daydreams ultimately drove me to quitting my first job two months early. My dream job shifted from consulting to living this nomadic lifestyle, being my own boss.

I wanted to devote all my time to freelancing and figuring it out. I was pretty new to my creative entrepreneurship journey.

Everyone that I had spoken with always told me that if I wanted to find success in freelancing and starting my own business, I had to commit to it 100%.

When asking people what they would have done differently in an effort to learn more about going solo, they always said they wished they started sooner. And so, in lieu of this advice, I quit my job and gave freelancing a little trial period of sorts.

I wanted to experience how that life might be when I decide to make that jump.

Here’s what I learned…

1. Money runs out fast if you’re not making it.

Going from a salary to no income was truly a shock, albeit one that lagged a bit. I did not feel the effects of quitting until about a month in.

Sure, I had savings, but those savings quickly dwindled after I paid rent, bills, student loans, food, gas, and everything else I needed to in order to live. And, I was only doing this for two months! I cannot imagine how people do this longer term.

In those two months, I only had one measly photography job. At the rate I was going, freelancing was certainly not going to be a sustainable lifestyle for everything I had going on.

To be 100% transparent, I share a mortgage with my best friend and I have A LOT of student loans. I took this into consideration before quitting my job, but I can imagine if time were to go on without any source of income from my freelance work, I quickly would have been in a predicament.

Whenever I decide to quit the corporate life again, I’ll definitely ensure I have my ducks in a row to hopefully bring in consistent income from freelancing. I’m starting to set that up early, because without it, it would be hard to live this dream life of mine.

2. Days without structure are harder than you think.

Throughout my 24 years of life, nearly every day had structure. Whether my mother was telling me what to do, I was in school, university, or working, I had some semblance of a structure to my day. The second I had no real responsibility, my life fell into chaos.

Freelancing, in itself, allows you to be your own boss and coordinator. It is very important to maintain strict boundaries with your time, otherwise you might end up wasting it or overworking. Neither of which good.

More free time certainly does not mean you are going to use that time to its full potential. Take it from me, I will talk about the detailed plan I have in the next section, but with all my free time, I did not accomplish much.

You need to be ready to be diligent with your time and it’s a lot harder than you think.

3. Just because you have a plan does not mean you’re ready to go.

You must be ready to WORK and work hard. I had the most detailed to do list with intelligent deadlines.

Ask me how many of the things on that list I got done?

NOTHING.

I failed to complete the items on my to do list because I had no structure to my days, as mentioned above. I kept pushing things back until the last minute but when that time actually came, I realized I had no real deadlines. And so I ended up just ignoring everything.

Maybe my experience is more extreme, maybe it was because I just came off a job I did not like and my body and mind wanted a break. Regardless, when making this jump, take into consideration that you may fall into that “break” mindset.

Take it from me, just because you have a plan doesn’t mean you will execute it. Ensure you are ready to work HARD.

4. Old habits DO NOT die hard.

If you were a procrastinator in your previously structured life, I promise those habits will still translate to freelancing.

This goes even if you are doing something that you love.

I have always been a terrible procrastinator, nothing changed when I decided to feign what the 100% freelance life would look like.

I can’t do everything.

Being freelance is hard. There are simply some things I can’t do and somethings that I can. I was able to identify aspects of my personal business that I should probably hire other people to do for me.

Because I was only in this lifestyle for ~2 months, I simply made a note to re-address this later for when I was more committed to pursuing freelance.

Ultimately, whatever strategies you use to overcome your old habits in the past, implement them when freelancing as well.

So what had happened was…

I tried too early and was naïve in thinking that just because I quit my job and was “devoted” to my freelancing that I would actually turn a profit.

That I would actually be able to live a sustainable lifestyle with freelancing.

Ultimately, I was severely underprepared. I had no clear vision for my entrepreneurship. I was not ready to put in the work. I had no guaranteed source of income from freelancing projects.

I know now that it is very important to set a portion or majority of these things up prior to making that jump. And that is what I will work towards.

I have since started my new consulting job. I will use that to support my entrepreneurship so that when I do ditch the corporate life, I will be more prepared and set up for success.

I hope for any of you reading, that you can take from my experience and be even more prepared on your freelancing journey.