There are plenty of reasons why someone would choose to freelance instead of doing the traditional job route – you know, the 9-to-6, Monday to Friday jobs.

It can be because they are in between jobs, maybe freelancing allows them to earn more than a regular job or maybe it allows the freelancer freedom of time to pursue his interests. As for me, I have a number of reasons, of all the reasons is because of what I wanted. And this lead to a new topic of not letting yourself forget freelancing is all about yourself.

We Only Have 24 Hours A Day

True, I wish I have more hours but like everyone else, I’ve got only 24 hours and of which, I dedicated at least 8 hours to my beauty sleep. No comprise.

Another non-compromise thing, my time with my little one. Having given up most of my youth (almost 20 years in the corporate world) to build up an impressive career, I want nothing more to spend the time to use the same energy and dedication to build a memorable childhood for her.

Freelancing allows me to do that by giving me the flexibility to choose my projects and manage my time around her activities so I don’t miss any one of them. And of course, no more fighting between me and my spouse on who’s turn to take leave when the little one is sick.

As tempting it is to work on a project that concerns parenting (or any subject that I love), I need to remember that freelancing is about giving me the freedom to do what I love – my child.

Crave Challenges Like An Addiction

Leaving the corporate world is very hard for me, freelancing fulfill that tiny void to prove myself besides being a great mom. (Sorry I can’t be just Kally the mom but I want to be Kally the manager and Kally the writer, more recently, Kally the volunteer).

Through my clients’ projects, I get to immerse myself (even it is 1 – 2 hours a day) into an old world that I was very familiar with. Sometimes, the satisfaction of meeting my clients’ expectations is so nostalgic, I’ll almost rush headlong into another challenging project.

Then I stopped myself.

Freelancing is all about myself, giving me enough challenges to stay sane and fulfilling. It’s not about conquering one major leap after another. Neither is it overwhelming myself with work until I’m working like my used-to-be self, 12 hours a day.

Be Selective

Once you hit success, you can choose to be more selective. I only choose to work on projects that benefit to add on to my experiences. I used to start off doing odd pieces of advertorial write-ups and translating from Chinese to English (since both are my native languages) but now I select the projects that I truly want to be involved in.

Usually, I’m excited if it is an industry I haven’t been in before or a named company that I like to work with or a project that is unique. I equal my time with learning experiences and whether it is worth to pull in time from other different priorities.

Doing The Things I Love

Which is to nurture my soul even more. Besides having the luxury (yes, I count my blessings Everyday) that I get to spend time with my little one, I get to allocate some time to do volunteering as well. These volunteer work I do allows my little one to participate with me so it’s a win-win situation for us.

She is exposed to volunteer work at her age, mixing around with other children from different backgrounds while I do my best to give back to society.

Getting Me Time

One of doing the things I love is also about giving myself enough me time. Freelancing allows me to juggle time so I can squeeze a tiny space to breathe. While I love it that I can rearrange my freelancing schedule anytime to fit into my little girl’s playgroup schedule, I love the most is that I am able to travel at last moment notice without sacrificing my clients’ work since I can complete my tasks remotely. I can also choose to work on days where my husband is on business travel so we get to spend precious couple time.

Fulfilling Clients’ Needs And Yours

Whether you are single or you have a family, whether you are doing it for the money or the experiences, don’t forget that you are only into freelancing because of the flexibility that it gives you to indulge in other priorities in life. It may be difficult to strike a clean balance between earning a living and giving enough time to yourself but that’s the beauty of freelancing, you have a choice. Everyday, every moment. Enjoy freelancing!

Why do you freelance? Please share your reasons in the comments below.

If you want to go into freelancing, here are some articles to ease you into it:

How To Save When You Are A Freelancer?
How to Sell Yourself Online

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