4 Low-Stress Ideas to Balance Freelancing With Your Home Life

Freelancing is enjoying its heyday. After the pandemic, more people realized they were wasting away in dull offices and chose to work on passion projects. More women are returning to work, striving to balance professional and family life through self-employment. 

Recently, Bloomberg reported that 3.2 million Americans now freelance as a second job. Only financial hardships don’t drive this trend. It is also a desire to pursue one’s passions. 

While freelancing has many perks, it makes balancing personal priorities stressful. Whether it is the best free CRM for freelancers or methods to refresh your focus, our stress-busting ideas have got you covered. 

1. Create a Timetable With Buffers and Rain Checks

 Managing time is the leading cause of stress for many freelancers. You may work from home, a cafe, or a shared workplace, but the stress of other life tasks is always on your mind.  

Moreover, freelancing does not have the inherent time management of full-time jobs – the timesheets, the deadlines, the logging out in the evening. Many of us thrive on schedules. You can replicate some of the comfort of planning by setting these things yourself: the number of hours for work and the timelines for delivery. 

Setting realistic deadlines is of utmost importance—don’t fall into the trap of overestimating your time now that you don’t have to go to the office. Deadlines can become haunting if you freelance on top of a day job. A Slate podcast has excellent advice on managing creative burnout as a freelancer. In this situation, you have too many projects but get spread too thin trying to complete them. 

As a freelancer, it helps to keep your timetable flexible. Buffers can save you the panic of missing a deadline because your toddler chose the last several days to be unnaturally clingy. Allow yourself to take rain checks on avoidable tasks, like participating in a social media group chat or making an extra side dish for dinner. 

2. Use CRM Software to Free Up Time for Errands

 As a freelancer, you constantly have to be alert. Of opportunities, new clients, and lucrative projects. Once you have established yourself in your field, your daily routine will involve interacting and following up with clients regarding deliverables and invoices. Communication becomes constant, and tracking it all does not come naturally to those who struggle with organization. 

You can get digital help to make things easier. Try using a CRM system to keep track of your projects and clients faster and without oversights. These software packages are like personal assistants. They can send reminders to clients who owe you payments. They can alert you to upcoming deliveries.  

With these repetitive but cumbersome tasks automated, you will find more time to finish household and personal chores. What’s more, you will also get the confidence to take on more projects without feeling frazzled. 

While selecting the appropriate CRM software, you should assess other tools you use, like your email or payment processors. Moxie recommends prioritizing integration and customization to find the right package that understands you and your business, whether writing or graphic design. 

3. Set Up Boundaries For and From Freelance Work

Another source of stress for freelancers is the struggle with boundaries. Once you have set up a sizable client roster, your days can get chaotic if you let them. Some organizations mistakenly believe that freelancers are available 24/7. They don’t think twice about sending you emails after the close of business or pinging you on weekends. These circumstances can make home life stressful. 

At the same time, freelancers feel an additional burden to perform and meet time and quality standards. Many businesses treat full-time and part-time or freelance workers differently, subjecting the latter to harsher metrics. It can be challenging to get work done while trying to moderate children’s squabbles and watching your Instant Pot in the background. 

The best way to manage this situation is to establish clear boundaries for your clients and family. It helps to create a home office, even if it’s only a desk and a chair near a window.  

You must slowly help the family understand that you mustn’t be disturbed while you’re at work. Some people benefit from coworking days when you can work alongside a peer or a friend, sharing ideas and encouraging each other. 

Likewise, consider keeping weekends sacrosanct and resist the urge to attend calls late into the evening. Plan self-care and unwinding time when you keep the devices away. Freelancers may take on more than they can feasibly manage, which makes it impossible to rest. It is a sureshot recipe for disaster on the home and work fronts. 

4. Use Little Tricks to Minimize Distractions and Find More Time

All things considered, freelancing is still challenging to succeed at when you must commit to a fulfilling personal life. Which is why we have some tricks to create more time for stuff: 

• Let your clients know when you will be available, say, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You don’t need to answer calls or emails outside this timeframe. They can wait for the next block while you concentrate on other tasks you need to finish. 

• Not every meeting is essential. Missing some is perfectly fine, much like it was if and when you worked as a full-time professional. Feel free to speak up and refuse to attend if a deadline is nigh and you feel stressed. 

• Keep your phone on “Do Not Disturb” if you are busy working while your spouse or a babysitter takes care of the children. It is your time to prioritize work and nothing else. (You can always get your phone to make an exception for your spouse, assuming they know to call only in an emergency.) 

 When you start focusing on your journey as a freelancer, you realize how you may have always put your needs behind those of others. However, being a self-employed professional requires some tough love, some conversations you must have, and a few sacrifices you must make.  

In the long run, you’re doing it to achieve better financial independence for yourself and your family. The creative fulfillment you get from your work also makes you a better person, partner, and parent. Once you learn to manage the stress, freelancing can be thoroughly liberating and enjoyable.