Perspectives on the Future of Work: August 1

Upwork’s biweekly column brings you the latest news on hiring and working with freelancers, freelancing, and the future of work.

FreelancerFaqs | Is Comparison Sabotaging Your Freelance Writing Business?

Learning from online colleagues and fellow freelancers can be a useful tool for improving your own professional world, but comparing yourself to others in your field can also be de-motivating or even damaging to your own business, warns freelancer Taylor Gordon, who says she’s struggled with this herself in the past.

“You give yourself an unfair disadvantage when comparing your skillset to someone who’s been in the game far longer than you. Comparing a fine-tuned business against the bootstrapping stages of your own is an uneven playing field,” she said.

Many new freelancers and creative professionals occasionally struggle with imposter syndrome and feelings of inadequacy in a competitive landscape. Gordon suggests taking a moment to consider the uniqueness you bring to the table.

“No two business owners are alike. Even if you start freelancing the exact day and minute another writer does, you both bring unique experiences, expertise, connections, personality traits, and skills to your work that simply can’t be compared.”

To avoid self-sabotage through unfair comparison, Gordon suggests you find motivation in the successes of others, develop camaraderie with your peers, and if all else-fails, double down focus on growing your own business.

Forbes | 7 Strategies For A Better Work-Life Balance in the Freelance Economy

As an entrepreneur in charge of shaping your own business, it can be easy to inadvertently tip the scale in the wrong direction when it comes to setting limits between work and personal time. This is amplified when your professional well-being relies on your ability to secure a steady inflow of income each month.

Forbes writer Larry Alton offers useful tips to help you decide where to draw the line and how to avoid hitting the wall as a freelancer, including:

Be willing to cut loose difficult clients. While there can be good reasons for sticking it out when things get rough, Alton says it’s important to recognize nightmare clients and muster the courage to “fire” them when necessary—before they drain too much of your time and energy.

Beware the “blur.” Consider making a more concerted effort to separate work time from personal time. This can include everything from setting strict business hours to using a dedicated space in your house for work only.

Unplug and step away. Most people have a smartphone within reach at all times, which makes the prospect of checking work email or messaging clients a tempting habit for those who find it difficult to stop working. Alton recommends occasional mini-breaks from ALL devices.

Fast Company | The Importance of Making Time to Manage Time

Anyone with a strong entrepreneurial streak can find themselves so busy and overwhelmed by the numerous facets of their business that they forget to carve out time to make sure all their priorities get the time they need.

This is exactly what happened to Marcus Whitney, reports Fast Company writer David Zax, and it threatened to consume him. “When you become an entrepreneur, the need for your time feels like it grows exponentially,” said Whitney, echoing a sentiment that’s common among freelancers and other self-employed professionals.

It wasn’t until Whitney decided to regularly set aside time to organize and manage his schedule that the disparate pieces of his life—his business, children, and partner—began to fall back into order, writes Zax. This simple commitment, it turns out, was the key to unlocking and unraveling his scheduling crisis, and has become an important part of his regular routine.

What changes have you noticed in the way we work? Tell us about them in the comments below!

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