5 Actually Good Reasons to Start Freelancing

Jessie Lewis
5 min readAug 22, 2018
Photo by Ali Yahya on Unsplash

A lot of people think freelancing is this holy grail of work. But as someone who’s freelanced for almost two years now, I can tell you that… surprise! It won’t actually solve all of your problems.

That’s what I wrote about yesterday in 4 Terrible Reasons to Start Freelancing.

However, there are perfectly legitimate reasons to want to freelance, which is why I’m writing today. If you’re thinking about freelancing, here are some really good reasons to do it:

1) You want more flexibility in your schedule

Freelancing can accommodate any schedule, provided you’re actually putting in enough focused time to grow your client base and get your work done. Want to be able to pick your kid up from school at 3:15? Do you do your best work late at night? Go ahead. Your work isn’t going anywhere.

Full disclosure: With much flexibility comes much responsibility. It takes willpower to keep on track when there’s no one else to keep you accountable. Whatever schedule you choose, stick to it as much as possible. Personally, I keep normal business hours — but I also enjoy leisurely lunches and the occasional late start when I know I have a lighter workload.

2) You’re sick of working in an office

Photo by Vladimir Kudinov on Unsplash

Some people want the freedom to travel the world, funded by their freelance work. Some people are simply homebodies. Either way, we can all agree that fluorescent lights suck.

I’m in the homebody camp right now. My favorite part of being self-employed is that I don’t have to dress for an office every day. I roll out of bed, put on some comfy clothes, make my breakfast, and get to work.

Full disclosure: It should go without saying, but you still need to dress appropriately for client calls. And frankly, every person I’ve heard of who has used freelancing to fund their travels has said it’s very difficult to do both at once. Just be prepared.

Full disclosure #2: Also, don’t underestimate the impact of losing coworkers. Freelancing…

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Jessie Lewis

Writer, artist, mom. Subscribe to my personal newsletter, The Jumble, for more on creative living → https://jessielewis.substack.com/