Doing freelance work online is going to be great for a free-spirited professional like you. It will set you free from having to travel or commute to work everyday. It even makes it totally unnecessary for you to dress up. Heck, you can even work while in your pyjamas if that’s what you prefer!
However, the freelance work-at-home setup is not perfect. It also has its own share of disadvantages. Fortunately, these disadvantages are ones that you can still do something about. In discussing the most common challenges of the freelance home-based setup in this article, we also include tips on how to work around them.
When you do freelance work, you are completely on your own
As insinuated in the introduction, one of the most important benefits of freelance work is the freedom that it affords. However, freedom is a double-edged sword. While it gives you free rein over what you want to do with your time, this freedom also puts under your responsibility all clerical tasks that are usually taken care of by others in office-based jobs. You will have to pay taxes on your own. You will also have to get your own social security and health insurance plans.
Fortunately, these things can be taken care of through electronic means. Hence, there really is no need for you to spend time traveling from office to office just to settle your bills. You just have to make sure, though, that you know how to calculate the amount that you have to pay.
Proof of income can be a challenge for freelance workers
When people want to avail themselves of major loans, lenders usually ask for their credit records and proof that they are financially capable of repaying the borrowed amount. Proof of income is going to be very useful in this case.
Many people are attracted to online freelance work because of the significantly bigger amounts that they earn through it. However, proving that you are receiving a steady flow of cash will not be as easy as presenting pay stubs like what office-based workers usually do. And that is because freelance workers simply don’t have them.
How can freelance workers like you provide convincing proof of income? Some lenders honor bank statements that show regular deposits from the freelancer’s clients. Others honor tax returns.
But if all those alternatives sound daunting to you, there are actually special kinds of loans that you can get even if you are unemployed! For example, proof of income, or even having a job at all, is not among the auto title loan requirements! You might want to give car title loans and other similar loans a try if you want to avoid the hassle of a traditional loan.
Freelance work can blur the lines between work time and relaxation time
Most freelance workers are home-based, which means that their place for work is mixed with their place of refuge and rejuvenation. This setup results in some people experiencing higher levels of stress.
If you are one of these people, you can address the issue by maintaining a nook in your home where you do work. It is separated from the other parts of the house, especially the areas where you relax. This way, there will be physical partitioning of your two functions, making it a lot easier for you to switch between relaxed and work modes.