What does your average day as a freelancer look like?

Question

I'm a web developer with around 2 years of experience and new into freelancing. I have been reading about freelancing from articles/blogs online and posts here, and have a fair idea of how things work. Just wanted to get a realistic idea of how a day for a freelancer looks like, whats the hardest part of the day, what task take most of your time other than the project tasks, and which apps/tools do you find yourself using usually.

Answer 1

I have been a freelance web developer for about 15 years. Here are my thoughts on your question.

What does your average day as a freelancer look like?

The best thing about freelancing is every day can be very different. One day you are a salesman, the next day a developer, the next day a marketeer, the next day a public speaker, the next day an entrepreneur etc. etc. I would suspect no two freelancers do it in quite the same way. There is no real pathway to follow, you are walking through an unknown forest, with no trail, no signposts, and only your whim and instinct to decide if you head uphill to see the view or down hill to swim in the stream. It can be a wonderful life, but like all wild landscapes, dangers can lurk in unexpected places. Sometimes the risks are part of the fun.

whats the hardest part of the day

Without a doubt, the hardest part of the day is doing the tasks that have to be done that you really do not like to do. For instance, for me, it is accounting. I hate it. At the end of each month I sit down to collate all my invoices, bills, payments, bank statements, mileage, etc. and bundle it all up for the accountant. Often I am late doing it because I hate it, but it has to be done. I suspect that for every freelancer, the hardest part of the day is always doing what we dislike doing, and for each, it will be different.

what task take most of your time

For me, fulfillment. But since I love web development, this is also the best bit. If actually doing paid work does not take up the bulk of your time, you should wonder why? After all, if you are not being paid for your time, you have not done your marketing, sales or networking well enough.

But ignoring project tasks, the second biggest time filler is finding new projects. Your day should be filled either with doing paid work or finding it. Nothing else in your freelance work life matters. Find work, do it, get paid. If you do not enjoy the hunt, the chase and the close, then you may as well get a job. Personally, my best days are when I close deals and send the invoice. I go home happy, content and full of the wonders of life. When you lose an exciting project, it can be heartbreaking. But you move on.

which tools do you find yourself using

Non project tools? For the most part, email and the telephone. Strange question really, not sure what you are getting at. My best tool that really makes what I do possible is my phone. Make sure you have a powerful, fast, fully featured smart phone, the best you can get. It really helps to be able to do nearly anything customer related on the move and anywhere. Secondly, use an online accounting and quoting system to generate invoices. Another incredibly useful tool. Finally, get a phone answering service to answer your phone calls when you are not available, that answer in your trading name. People hate to speak to answering machines. Make sure a human always answers your phone, that is also a tool (in this case a service) that will prove to be invaluable in the long run. Also very handy to switch calls to them when you want to work uninterrupted on a project, yet not miss out on any potential new customers calling.

Hope that helps.