When people seem to pay attention to their work-life balance, the life of freelancers has become one of the most popular topics of discussion. Everyone wants to find out more about freelance jobs and everything related to a freelancing career. The fact shows that all types of employment have different strong and weak points, fit for particular objects. In this blog, we would like to debunk the six most common myths around when it comes to being a freelance professional. These may help you decide whether self-employed life is for you or not.

6 common myths about freelancing debunked

1. Myth 1: Freelancing isn’t reliable

One of the most common myths related to a freelance career is that there’s “no job security” when you are self-employed. However, this depends on what you consider security in each specific case.

Let’s say you work for a company as an employee. You will receive a set payment regardless of how many hours you work. At one time, you will be assigned to join a particular project and perform all required tasks. If you lose your job, you lose all of your income. Besides that, the process of looking for another full-time job requires you to spend a lot of time and effort. You want to find the most proper working environment to cooperate in the long run.

When you’re freelancing, you’re self-employed. You have the right to find and pick your next client. At once, you can work for multiple clients, multiple contracts, and multiple projects. You can easily maximize your income to avoid being affected by losing any source of income. Even if you lose a single client, it's only a small percentage of your income, not all. Moreover, replacing a single client can be much easier than finding another full-time job. Especially when it comes to an unsteady work environment in today's pandemic Covid 19, companies can intend to hire freelancers to both do work and save costs and time for hiring new employees.

2. Myth 2: You don’t have a mentor or boss

The next myth about freelancing is that you won’t have a mentor or boss. It seems reasonable but not entirely true. When you work in traditional employment, your mentors or bosses are direct leaders and department managers who will manage and assign your work and then evaluate your performance. While you are a freelancer, you work on multiple projects. So you have over two bosses, yourself first, and all your clients.

When you are a freelancer, you also are your own boss. For the most part, you are in charge of yourself and managing your own time and workload. You have to keep yourself accountable to get your work done on time. You will try your best to manage your time effectively and make sure that everything is done perfectly.

Besides a boss is yourself, you also have other bosses depending on the number of projects you take part in. As a freelancer, you always work on several different projects for many different clients at the same time. Each project has a few people who discuss and send detailed requirements to you. Your clients can call or email to ask anything about the progress and project anytime. To be successful and receive payment, you must meet their expectations and deadlines.

3. Myth 3: It’s less stressful than a full-time career

The comparison of the stresses of a full-time and a freelance career largely depends on what parts of work you find stressful. While freelance jobs offer several outstanding perks, it seems more stressful than a full-time job.

Some main factors create the stresses of freelancing. Firstly, when you're a freelancer, you have to do everything. There's may marketing yourself, dealing with clients, signing contracts, and sending requests for payments. If you are not good at marketing yourself and your brand name is not famous enough, you may find yourself stressed and overwhelmed.

Secondly, in the beginning, a freelance career can be more stressful because of the financial aspect. Having a full-time job, you make sure that a certain amount of money will be transferred to your wallet every month. A similar thing doesn't come with a freelance job. You can only earn money when you have clients who pay you.

However, freelancing gives you some freedom in many ways. A freelancer can proactively decide their time off, maybe a week, a month, or even longer without any permission. You’ll just need to complete work to deliver on time and/or delegate someone to cover for you in your absence. Moreover, you won’t have to worry about the next round of layoffs or restructuring in any company.

4. Myth 4: You can wear pajamas to work

The fact shows that pajamas have become a new office attire for freelancers. Almost all freelancers work remotely, work anywhere they want. Beginning of your working day, you don't have to leave your house. So the feeling of comfort will attract you, and then you towards simple and comfy clothes, such as pajamas.

However, pajamas cause more sleep and lounging. So wearing them during working hours keeps you in a relaxed and sleepy mood. To avoid this, you need to wear formal clothes as if you are in an office. The clothes keep you focused and motivated, and then you become more productive and professional. Make sure that you are as professional as possible to encourage yourself to work hard and gain the trust of your partners.

5. Myth 5: Freelancing is not a “real” business

Another myth about freelance careers is that it’s not a “real” business. Similar to any other business, freelancing requires you to be responsible for everything as a business owner. At once, you have to handle multiple tasks. For example, marketing, accounting, administrating, or even legal concerns. You allocate and manage your time, find a way to complete tasks well, and get the most stable income. You have to spend a lot of time and effort to build your freelancing career from the beginning to getting successful.

Freelancers are business owners, making the majority of their income from plenty of clients. Being a freelancer, they have more opportunities to make connections with people in different industries. Determine which projects they want to apply for and manage their workload accordingly. To increase their value and rates, they strive to raise their skills and experience. Doing this makes the customer experience better, gets the highest satisfaction, and becomes more famous in the market.

6. Myth 6: You can work whenever you want

Last but not least, the sixth misconception is that you just work whenever (or however) you want. Even if freelancing gives you flexibility in how, where, and when you work, the truth is not.

When you are a freelancer, there seem not many strict rules, regulations, and policies that require you to stick to them. You can set the hours you work, create a routine that works best for you, and even arrange what activities do in your working day. You can proactively choose the client that you want to work with. If any client has expectations that don’t fit for you, you can choose not to work with them (or negotiate a compromise).

However, a few special clients may require you to work in certain ways, with certain programs, or even at certain times that fit into their established workflow. To meet their requirements and ensure efficiency and productivity, you’ll have to work with your clients’ schedules. Clients have different time zones, you even work, make calls, or meet at certain hours that overlap with their hours.

Conclusion

In this blog, we have debunked some truths about freelancing. Any career path has different pros and cons. The important thing is to understand the true meaning of each type of employment to determine which career is a good fit for you. Whether you like freelance jobs, it does not mean that you can succeed in your freelance career. We hope that these six common myths help you gain more knowledge about freelance jobs and choose the best right for you.