Things You Needed To Start Your Freelancing Journey

I know you have mixed emotions about the thought of being your boss as you start your freelancing journey. Congratulations on transitioning into your new job, where you have the freedom to do what you love and what you are good at—the privilege to work with the clients you want to work with. And lastly, the freedom to work at your own pace and schedule.

Let me share with you some of the things I prepared to start my freelancing journey:

1. Pieces of Equipment - As a freelancer, you must choose between a laptop or a desktop. It depends on you what to choose since there are freelancers who prefer to travel while working and some decide to stay at home. Once you've chosen your gadgets, you will need a stable internet connection to communicate with your future clients and access the databases you will work on.

2. Designated Workspace - I'm not saying that you need to have a fancy home office or an office whenever you travel while working. It would be best if you came up with your schedule for work to set boundaries between work and personal time. Further, make sure you work in a space that doesn't associate with rest and leisure.

3. Social Media Presence - A lot of people all over the world use social media. Who doesn't have Facebook, Instagram, and the like in the world's fast-paced technology? It would help if you positioned yourself in the industry to get clients and establish credibility.

4. Assess Yourself About What Skills You Have - This is essential to map out the niches you will choose as you start freelancing. In addition, this will help you curate your future services for your clients.

5. Create an Outstanding Portfolio - Creating a solid portfolio as a freelancer will help you stand out from everyone. You will have high-profile views, and quality invites from clients. Your portfolio will help you showcase your particular knowledge and skills on the projects that you've done before. In addition, you can highlight some of the qualities you have that may not stand out from your employment history and experiences.

Beginning a new journey with the freedom we want may seem like a dream. But it would be best if you prepare things to start it. With these things, I hope you can smoothly start your freelancing journey. Best of luck!

Increasing Your Productivity as a Freelancer

A lot of freelancers have mastered being a productive person. Sometimes we want to have shortcuts to increase our productivity, but there are no shortcuts. We need to study how to work efficiently and overcome the circumstances we experience, thus boosting our productivity.

Here are the habits you can do to be efficient and effective on whatever goals you have in your freelancing career:

1. Focus on MOST IMPORTANT TASKS (MITs) first - We have so many tasks in our career as a freelance virtual assistant; focusing on your MITs can help you not procrastinate with all your to-do's. You may be used to working on the easy tasks first and checking them off quickly from your list, but it's more rewarding to finish one to three MITs which are the things that, no matter what, you need to finish by the end of your day.

2. Break your tasks into smaller pieces - Start by setting small goals for each goal. Break down the large to-do's into smaller ones. Once you break down large to-do's, you will have much smaller to-do's. You will also feel that it'll take you longer to finish everything; however, it will help you get things done faster, and most of all, you know where to start.

3. Manage your energy - Remember that your productivity level will lower when exhausted. Being productive is not just about managing your time alone; you need to manage your energy. We have peak hours and during those hours, make sure to handle your most important tasks before you get tired.

4. Don't multitask - You might be wondering why right? I discovered this myself; whenever I multitask, I always lose my focus. Why? Because I rapidly switch my focus between the things I'm multitasking on. Every time you switch from one task to another, you have to refocus. Eliminating multitasking is the best investment for your productivity goals.

5. Learn how to say NO - It has always been tempting to say YES to all the good things that may come into our lives, from travels, opportunities, new projects, and the like. However, you will wind up with so many commitments when you say yes to all those things. Learn to set aside something to have time to work on your most important goals in life.

Productivity doesn't come overnight especially if you are working with lots of clients. If you take small steps to become more productive and develop your habits, you will have great results with your productivity goals.

Steps to Smoothly Transition to Freelancing

Transitioning from a full-time job to freelancing is one of the most challenging decisions we can have in our careers. Being an employee, you work for a company or a business. As a freelancer, you work independently on your own.

You might be wondering how to smoothly transition to freelancing from your 8-5 job, here are 5 steps to help you.

Steps in Transitioning to Freelancing

Research and Learn About Freelancing -- You need to plan and learn as much as possible about freelancing. It would be best to make sure that freelancing fits your working style and will help you with your career goals.

Review Your Skills -- I know you have acquired skills from your full-time job. However, the skills you need in freelancing vary from your clients' demands. It may take some time for others to identify valuable skills that we can offer, so take your time and slowly embrace it.

Enroll in A Freelancing Course -- You need to develop all the required freelancing skills to provide quality service to your future clients. I highly recommend taking the Freelancing (Virtual Assistance) Course of Filipino Virtual Assistance, now known as Surge. They have tailored the course for newbies, and you will learn a lot from their passionate Coaches.

Manage Your Time and Schedule -- This will be hard at first. You will need to be disciplined with your schedule while working on multiple tasks. Later on, you will get used to it. Setting your plan will also help you work efficiently and effectively. Make sure you have breaks in between and do not get exhausted with work.

Set-Up Your Working Space: A dedicated space for your work is essential to separate your tasks from work and at home. It will mentally get you into working mode and have fewer distractions. It is further giving you a work-life balance.

There would be a lot of barriers as we transition because we are used to working in an office setting. However, being an independent worker having freedom in everything is also the best. Good luck with your freelancing career.