More and more people now work from home. If you are one of them, discover how to achieve more:
- Be a leader – One of the best ways to distinguish yourself from the crowd as a freelancer is to be a leader. This can be difficult to do when you consider the fact that you work remotely. After all, it is very easy to get wrapped up in what the client thinks in terms of their approach and vision. Nevertheless, what separates excellent freelancers from the average ones are their capacity to understand where the client is coming from yet being able to propose a plan different to theirs if you feel that what they are proposing is not going to be suitable.
- Deal with distractions – You also need to find an effective way of dealing with distractions. There are so many distractions when working from home. Having a dedicated office space is going to help you to deal with a few of them. However, there are some other distractions you are going to need to handle too. You will often find that people think that because you work from home you are always available. You need to deal with visitors and family members who call you in a polite and friendly manner. Make it clear that you need to meet deadlines at work and so you’re not able to just take time off whenever you feel like it. It is likely that they just do not understand the nature of your work and so they assume that you can chill out whenever you feel like it. Again, if only it was that simple! Another common distraction is social media. It is easy to want to check your social media every time a notification pops up on the side of your screen. The best thing to do is to turn your notifications off. You should then dedicate half an hour of your day to checking these platforms so that they do not continue to interrupt you throughout your working hours. Furthermore, if you wear a hearing aid, you may find street noise and other background noise a distraction. You can read up more on hearing aids and disability so you can find one that is better suited.
- Set realistic project expectations – One of the most difficult things about being a freelancer is ensuring that you and your client are on the same page. You can be tempted to overpromise because you do not want the client to choose someone else. However, when you are unable to deliver the project to the level you have claimed to, then you are only going to let the client down. Be honest. You will often find that you’re worrying over nothing. Plus, when you exceed the client’s expectations, you will impress them. This links to the earlier point about time management. If you get scheduling right, you will then find it a lot easier to master the art of setting realistic project expectations.
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