Working on weekends - Is it a choice for freelancers?

Freelancers are looked at with envy by others who take up regular jobs. Many people assume that freelancers are making loads of money without working hard. The reality is that freelancers are working their heads off, sometimes more than others.

For those who take regular jobs, weekends are a great pleasure and they commit not to work on weekends. Freelancers on the other hand don't practically see a difference between weekdays and weekends. When clients request for a job to be done, they just start working on the project without worrying about the day. Ironically, this is the freedom for freelancers. Unless you are very well established in your niche, you can't pass away a couple of clients because the work load requires you to work in the weekends.

Many freelancers are actually more worried about whether they should work on weekends, rather than do they like working on weekends. Personally, I feel that the freedom of freelancing allows you to decide what you want to do. No one is going to question you for turning down clients because you don’t like to work on Saturdays and Sundays.

I have not established a full fledged career in freelance writing and hence, I don’t mind working on weekends. At the same time, I don’t work for forty hours in five days. I schedule my work so that I don’t miss the entertainment I don’t want to miss. I happily distribute my work on weekends and just consider week days as weekends. I am not going to travel to any place to work, so it doesn't hurt me to work on Saturdays and Sundays. Sometimes, my clients give me loads of work to be completed on Monday and in those cases, working during weekends is what I love.

Coping Up With Distractions Is Difficult For Freelancers

Enjoying all the freedom of freelancing can be too overwhelming at times because distractions are too huge to be ignored for freelance workers, especially writers. When you go to your office and work for 9-5, you are forced to stare at your computer and work whether you like it or it. However, when you are freelancing, you know that you have all the time in the world and you can work too flexibly.

When working at home, a huge number of distractions creep up to swallow your time. I like watching movies and sometimes, I find myself glued to television even though I have loads of work to do. Household chores is another massive distraction that most people working at home have to face. I like to keep my house clean and I will often end up spending hours organizing my wardrobe. Guess what? After doing everything I can, I will still find it to be untidy. If you have got kids, then distractions are even more.

Internet is the major distraction for freelance writers. You start with searching for information to write on the topic and after a few minutes, you can't just resist yourself from reading several interesting websites that are way off your topic. I have been caught up with this for a very long time. I will realize that I am reading something that is not useful for the topic I started to write only after spending at least half an hour.

Now, I am managing to cope up with distractions. The first thing in the morning I do after having a steaming hot cup of coffee is to check my mails and develop my To-do list for the day. I will set tighter, yet achievable deadlines for myself. This greatly helps me deliver work on time. Sometimes, I will switch on my television and try to multitask watching TV and writing at the same time. Eventually, I will find TV to be a great distraction and I will switch it off. Playing my favorite music and tuning my favorite FM radio channel drives away boredom and keeps my mood alive. Music is definitely not a distraction for me :)

From my experience, if freelancing is what you want to do to make your living, prioritize your distraction and forget about everyday entertainment. Getting glued to your computer that you use for freelancing and falling in love with it is the best way to cope up with distraction. This may be totally rude for someone trying to enjoy freelancing freedom, but this is what helps me stick to my schedule.