Many freelancers think that posts on writing are for the benefit of freelance journalists and copywriters alone. You can’t really blame them — if your trade is based on the excellent design you deliver or your skill as a programmer, then it might seem that the ability to piece words together in a pleasing and practical way isn’t necessary for you to master.

I’m a writer so my opinion might be biased, but many others in all sorts of trades and careers have discovered the value of the written word as a tool for relationship building, problem solving, and idea expression. You can learn to use the deceptively simple tool of writing to your advantage as well.

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Photo by Vu Bui.

Performance anxiety is a part of life. We all have it. It drives us to work harder and improve at what we do, but too much of it can also kill your creativity, drain your energy and severely impact productivity.

Freelancing comes with its fair share of anxiety provoking conditions. The solo aspect of it alone can be scary, not to mention the variability in income, and if you’re new at it, the inevitable learning curve when it comes to business skills.

A healthy level of performance anxiety that gets your heart pumping and sharpens your attentiveness can be an asset if you know how to make the most of it. But how do you regain control when anxiety starts to run the show? Continue Reading

Photo by FABIOLA MEDEIROS.

Although there are numerous bright aspects to freelancing, day in day out it’s not easy to keep focused and keep producing your best work for clients. Focus can easily be lost, direction shortsighted, and shortcuts taken. There are a few things you can do to relieve a major chunk of this pressure and stress and start leading a lot more simple freelancing life.

Take Away The Unnecessary

Keep asking yourself, does this “something” add anything to my life? If you have to think about an answer to the question for more than a few seconds, it doesn’t. Remove it from your life. Throw it away. Clear out the space visually and mentally.

There’s no use keeping around a piece of digital material (RSS feed, song, file, bookmark) if it’s not adding anything to your life or helping you in some way. Try to simplify things down and keep only the essentials, both in the material and the evolving digital world. Continue Reading