Freelancing Work Ethics & the Social Cocktail

There are times when freelancing, despite all its freedom, can get a bit depressing. Sometimes your routine gets you down, while other times its just one of those days when you want to turn to your coworkers and complain to your hearts content. Although working from home is appealing for many, it comes with its own bunch of setbacks.

While on the glamorous side of the freelancing picture you can sit in your PJ's the whole day and work, on the dark side of it you just can't turn to a colleague and complain about your tough schedule and work overload. This is the bit you have to swallow on your own if you freelance.

Chillax and Enjoy!
Having said that, its not all that bad and freelancing still has its own charm. The good part is that you are not bound to that 9 to 5 schedule, nor do you have to sit amongst annoying people all day and bear them. Instead what you can do is work at your own ease and still make time for your favorite friends and family. And this is the charm that attracts many to freelancing, time and time again.

Make time for Socializing
As a freelancer you can schedule your work around your social time and run your business instead of letting your business run you. It's fun to work as a freelancer when you know that you can plan lunches with your friends, take a day off to hang out with the family, go shopping or get off work early because you have a dinner party at night. You can make your schedule work for you and make social time, all in one go (Something you really can't do if you work in an office).

Not just that but while socializing you can also increase your networking and gain more business opportunities as well. The best part about freelancing is that while you can socialize whenever you like, you can also make up for the lost time later as well, especially during those quite days when friends and family are not available to hang out with and when there isn't much going on in your life.

So get up, go out and chillax! Go socialize with friends and make dinner plans with the family. Just because you work from home doesn't mean that your schedule has to be boring. In fact it can be all the more fun mixing work and play together in a social cocktail ;)

Freelancing Frolics - From the CEO's desk

The best part about freelancing is that you get to be your own boss. You set your own schedule, manage your own timings, respond to your own creativity and are responsible for your own self. Sometimes though, while freelancing, you can end up working for multiple bosses and as a result are liable to a hectic schedule and plenty of deadlines.

At the end of the day however, what matters is being capable of managing your schedule, no matter how hectic, and still finding a balance in life. Striking a balance between work and fun is important, especially if you are a freelancer. Don't let work get you down. You are your own boss - remember? So why not find ways to work comfortably around your schedule and at your ease. Freelancing brings freedom a whole new flexibility, so why not happily use it to your advantage!

My next couple of posts will be comprising mainly of tips that will help you bring back the 'fun' and 'freedom' into your freelancing business. So here goes...

Seize the Moment!
Freelancing offers its own advantages. And while you get a fair share of disadvantages too that can make your schedule unbearable, what matters is how well you can cope and strike a balance.

What makes me appreciate freelancing most is the freedom of it all. Despite the usual busy schedule it's exhilarating to try and seize control of your work and life together. It feels like an achievement to make time for going out with friends, cooking a special meal for the family or just relaxing under to cool shade of a tree in the afternoons while playing with your pet. The best part is that you don't even have to compromise your work for these things most of the times.

Make Your Own Time!
True that work schedule can be quite tough at times, not to mention those annoying and sometimes outrageous deadlines we have to meet as freelancers. But making time for fun really helps boost your enthusiasm for work rather than making it more hectic. No matter what your business is or what you freelance about, remember to find a couple of ways to personalize your work schedule even if it means taking time off work every single day. Interrupt your routine on purpose and do something fun and relaxing. Of course this does not imply taking hours off work every day, but at the end it all comes down to understanding your work ethic.

Fit fun things in your everyday work schedule, whether for a few minutes or for a couple of hours. Stop fretting about how much work you have and learn to enjoy that you have work at all. So make your own unique time everyday starting today and bring back the 'freedom' in freelancing! :)

continued...

15 Life Lessons Worth Remembering

I was reading 'Life Maps' by Gregory E. Lang the other day. It's a great book filled with some amazingly simple directions (as the author puts it) that one can use to find his/her way in life. Although what the book offers are lessons that are quite simple and require only common sense to understand, it's a pity that still some of us humans lack that common sense and are too engrossed in our own selves to realize the worth of loved ones.

Isn't it funny how most of us don't realize what direction our life is taking while we make irrational decisions time and time again? Isn't it funny how we start our journey for something and half way through lose the sight of it? The truth is that it isn't funny at all! Still a number of us remain blind to what's right in front of them and start taking life and all those dear to us for granted, only realizing their worth when its much too late. Anyways, so much for my rantings :)

While there are so many things in the book that are worth sharing, given below are only a few of the worthwhile lessons to live by...

• Don't have double standards. If you don't want others doing it to you, you shouldn't do it to them either.
• Make time now for those you love. You never know how much time you might have to give later.
• Its easier to lose the respect of someone you love than it is to earn it. Once earned, be sure to keep it.
• Know what brings out the worst in you and avoid it.
• Try harder when given a second chance.
• Contribute time and money generously when you can. When you cannot, make up for it later.
• If you have led someone to expect something from you, don't get mad at them when eventually they do.
• Give more than you take. It will come back to you in one way or another.
• Loving someone is all the more reason to tell them when they are wrong.
• Never take up a habit that you know you will need to break someday.
• When in doubt, wait. Often a quick decision is the wrong one.
• It's more important to care about what your loved ones think than what strangers think.
• Remember that succeeding in marriage and family is better than becoming the world's best CEO.
• When your life isn't going according to plan, ask yourself if you have the right plan.

and here's one that perhaps seems hard to believe but is nevertheless true to its core:

• Although opposites attract, they seldom stay together.

Color Filter on Google Image Search

Google has recently added another new feature to its image search, the Color Filter. The Google Image Search Color Filter allows you to select the color in order to select the images you wish would appear in the search results. Although this function was available before, however a code was required for that which could be placed in the URL of the query page in order for the specific results to be filtered. But now with the new feature readily available all you have to do is click a color and get filtered results.

You can also use the color filter in your own image searches. All you have to do is search for something like you normally would, then on the results page click on the 'All colors' drop down bar to choose a color of your choice. It's an interesting feature (unlike some of Google's special features) and will hopefully be a useful one, especially when you want a filtered search.

Control your Sleep – Do you have what it takes?

A major misconception people tend to have is considering themselves stuck to a certain sleeping pattern for their entire lives. How many times have you heard someone saying that they are a morning people, or evening people or the ‘night owls’? This misnomer is based on concepts people commonly have and which they come to think of as facts. Considering themselves to be capable of sleeping only at a certain time or thinking of being capable of complete wakefulness at another.

Excessively Sleepy? Caffeine won’t help!
If you think that caffeine can keep you awake, think again. Studies show that buckets full of tea and even coffee won’t help when you are suffering from excessive sleep disorder. Nor will coke or any amounts of chocolate, which are otherwise known to contain active caffeine ingredients, will help you stay awake. Alcohol, drugs and smoking are also known to rob patients of deep sleep while keeping them lethargic.

Dealing with Sleep Issues
Not having a proper sleep pattern is a flaw but having one, knowing the hazards of your disorder and then not doing anything about it, is no less than a crime. And it’s a crime you commit against yourself and your health. In the long run it is you who will suffer and consequently your loved ones.

You have a Choice - Take your Pick!
It’s simply wrong to blame your relatives or friends for keeping you awake or blaming them for destroying your schedule, its wrong to believe that you didn’t have a choice, because you do. It’s our own weakness that allows us to get by in most situations and find others to blame it on. In any walk of life, in any situation, we always have a choice. It’s the one we make that creates all the difference in the world. So make a choice today! Take your sleep very seriously but don’t let it or the lack of it take over your life. Any kind of sleep disorder must be taken seriously and professional help should be sought.