Work on your own, without losing your mind
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Starting your own career path can be as exciting as it is overwhelming. I'm sharing the habits that helped me move forward with order and focus.
Working for yourself opens up a world of possibilities: bringing your ideas to life, managing your own schedule, working from anywhere, and later choosing the projects you like. But that freedom without any direction or limits can lead us down a complicated path. Especially if you're a scattered person like me.
If you're starting your own career path or thinking about doing so, I'll share some of the habits that helped me find my own work rhythm.
1. Maintain a routine (even if it's flexible)
When I decided to start working for myself, I knew I needed to maintain a routine similar to the one I had when I was employed, for several reasons:
The first reason is simple: it was a routine I'd already established and enjoyed. Getting up early, having a leisurely breakfast, getting ready, working in the morning, taking a break at midday, coming back, doing some other activity, and wrapping up the day. It might sound repetitive and boring, but it worked for me. And when I became my own boss, I understood that this commitment had to be even greater.
The second reason is that I'm quite disorganized, so I rely heavily on routines because they give me structure, focus me, and bring order to my thoughts. They help me avoid getting distracted and know what I have to do and when.
Looking back, I can say that sticking to a routine was one of the best decisions I made. Because while one of the great advantages of being a freelancer is being able to manage your own time, not managing it well can really backfire, taking you from "I'll start later today" to "I'll do it tomorrow," and from there to feeling like everything is improvised.
This doesn't mean the routines are rigid. If something different comes up one day, welcome it!
But that flexibility works much better when there is a structure behind it.
2. Establish an administration day
If there's one thing that often gets neglected when working independently, it's the administrative side. Invoices, payments, accounts, budgets, income and expense tracking. All of that combined with creative work is usually a chaotic mix.
At first, it was for me. Until I decided to assign a fixed day each month exclusively to that: my "administration day".
That day I review and pay bills, organize documents, keep track of numbers, and get everything in order. It's far from my favorite activity, so I try to approach it with the best possible attitude: I put on good music, drink mate, have something tasty to eat, and mentally prepare myself to be done with that task by the end of the day.
Having a specific time for this part of the work frees me up mentally for the rest of the month. Because nothing is more distracting than that invisible list of administrative tasks swirling around in my head.
3. Take advantage of less busy times
Working independently has something we aren't always taught to manage: cycles. There are times of high demand and other, quieter periods. And the latter, especially when we're starting out, are often accompanied by uncertainty, doubt, and anxiety.
Personally, when the pace of work slowed down, all sorts of worries would surface (for example, the one that told me I wouldn't get another job). Until I realized that those moments are a great opportunity to organize, brainstorm ideas, improve processes, create new services, train myself, generate content, contact potential clients, and do all those things that usually get postponed because we don't have time.
The moments that seem least productive are the ones we need to take advantage of the most.
4. Separate work and personal life (even if you work from home)
This is a difficult point, because when you create your own career path, the boundaries between your personal and professional life become blurred. Not only physically (your living room might now be your office) but mentally it's also complex. You might find yourself on a Sunday at a family barbecue thinking about how to approach a project or answering an email.
Working for yourself doesn't mean being available all the time. That's why the first point is so important. If we create a work routine, we'll feel more secure with the time we have available to work.
5. Build consistency and discipline before motivation
Motivation is volatile. Some days it's abundant, and other days it's completely absent. That's why depending on it is quite dangerous.
Consistency and discipline, on the other hand, are what sustain the process. Moving forward a little each day, even if we don't feel like it, even if we're not inspired, even if we feel it's not good.
The small things, the step by step, are what ultimately build something bigger.
Embarking on your own career path brings with it a great deal of self-discovery. You'll uncover how you function, what motivates you, what awakens you, what scares you, and what excites you. You'll have days of euphoria and others filled with doubt. And in every case, what will make the difference is your ability to build a routine and a structure that nurtures and supports you.
Comments