Freelance work is a very difficult field to work in, it takes a lot of time and commitment on your part.  Nothing worthwhile comes easy, no pain no gain, right?  Same rules apply when you work for yourself as a freelancer!

My advice to you would be to:

• sit down and really think about what you want to accomplish – your goals.
• make a list of advantages and disadvantages for everything you want to accomplish
• write down steps, starting out with baby steps to accomplishing your goals
• set up a time line on when each step needs to be completed
• figure out a way to be accountable
• write up a plan “B” for when a step isn’t accomplished…don’t give up, just readjust
• jot down ways to reward yourself, these are very important incentives

Now that you have a “business plan” or personal goals figure out, you need to decide how often you need to work to achieve these goals.  I like to figure I need to do so many jobs for x amount of money to achieve my monetary goal.  Then I like to break it down by month.  If I want to make $x in a year, I need to divide that amount by 12 to figure out how many freelancer jobs each month I need to work.

The great thing about breaking down your freelancer yearly income by month is you can plan and budget better.  Now, I can work in vacation time…by either working additional jobs before vacation or after.  The other great thing about this tool is I can guestimate how much my vacation is going to cost and I can figure out how many additional jobs I need to pick up to pay for it!

Having a plan of attack as a Freelancer takes all the pain of working for yourself out of the equation!  Sticking to the plan makes your personal life easier!  Accomplishing your goals makes you successful at managing You!

photo credit: juliejordanscott