Surviving freelancing

If you decide to take the plunge and work from home, it could be the most amazing, liberating thing you ever do.

After all, you get to choose your own hours and you don't have to worry about office politics or packed commuter trains.

And, having tried it, I can confirm that freelancing has a lot going for it. But you have to make sure you're the right kind of person. Or, if you're not, you need to develop a whole new set of skills.

The first thing is discipline. It's so tempting to let things slip, but if you're used to full-time work, it can take time to realise that you have a totally new level of responsibility when it comes to your income.

So count the hours you spend working productively. Don't count time spent on trips to the kitchen to make tea, or on reading the BBC news website. The fact that you don't have anyone watching over you makes it all too easy to take liberties that you just can't afford.

When you are your own boss, you really have to be exactly that. You need to monitor and manage yourself effectively, or else you will find that too much work time is taken up by housework, emailing friends or looking people up on Facebook.

I find it quite useful to make sure I'm at my desk at least by 8.30 or 9.00 and then work at least a full working day (counting the hours - if I take 1.5 hours for lunch, I add another 1/2 hour at the end). As it happens, I tend to work much better in the evening, but this way I get to make sure that I put in at least a good day's work, plus another 3 or 4 hours later that night.

The only trouble with this is that you can end up going to far... Do take some time off! Even if you're extremely busy, make sure you have at least one day a week that's work-free. You'll find that you work much better if you're properly rested.

Oh, yes ... and do leave the house from time to time! The hours (and days) can fly by, but you need the exercise and fresh air that you would have got from commuting, going out at lunch, etc.

If you can master time management, I think you're halfway there. Of course, there are a hundred other things to consider - from taxes to sick pay ... not to mention the small matter of actually finding work.

But I think I'll leave those for future posts....