work life balance

Working from home – five optional extras

| Working From Home

Working from home is one of the greatest perks of freelancing. No horrible commute, no noisy office, no stale Tesco sandwiches for lunch – just you, your laptop and your underwear. Once you’ve got your home office all set up, it’s time to start tweaking your working habits to ensure maximum happiness and productivity.

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Why flexibility is your friend while freelancing

| Getting a Job,Resources

When you work in a regular job what’s expected of you, from your working hours to your job role, is clearly laid out when you’re hired. Freelancing is completely different though as even with the best planning, you never know what you’ll be doing from one week (or even one day) to the next.

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Five simple steps to impress new clients over Christmas

| Getting a Job,Resources

Scoring new clients can be tricky this time of year – most people have already mentally checked out for Christmas, making new projects hard to come by. That makes it all the more important that you’re able to hang on to those clients who do come knocking during the holiday lull. Here’s five easy ways to make sure you keep hold of any new business until January comes around.

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The freelance jobs you just have to turn down

| Getting a Job,Resources

When times are tough, people tend to be less choosy about the type of contract or freelance assignment they take on. Those slightly dull roles you would avoid during the boom times might seem more enticing when work opportunities are less plentiful. However, in both boom and flat times, there are some jobs you are better off avoiding altogether.

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Working from home – three cheap, healthy lunches

| Working From Home

One of the few drawbacks of working from home is that you’re often stuck with whatever food you have in the house for lunch – you won’t find any sandwich vans visiting like you would at an office. If you’re anything like me you probably are also not very good at grocery shopping, so after a morning’s hard work you’ll venture to the kitchen and groan at your choices upon opening the cupboard.

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Freelancing at Christmas

| Events,Resources

Christmas can be the toughest period for freelancers despite all the joy and cheer it brings. There are many issues and concerns that arise during the festive season that affect freelancers. These dilemmas include…

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Is your home office more home than office?

| Resources,Working From Home

Working from home is one of the things many freelancers love about our working model. No morning or evening commute. Eating healthy, home-cooked meals instead of expensive, shop-bought lunches. Not spending Saturday mornings queueing at the sorting office for parcels that arrived while you were out.

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Interview with mumpreneur Antonia Chitty

| Working From Home

The new edition of the Collins English Dictionary has been released and leading the new additions is the word Mumpreneur, the definition of which is: “a woman who combines running a business with looking after her children.”

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Knew it all along – casual browsing good for productivity

| Lifestyle & Time out

Here comes another study which will cause the freelancers of the world roll their eyes wryly as the rest of the world slowly figures out what us homeworkers have been preaching all along.

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Small business owners take less than 2 weeks holiday a year

| Lifestyle & Time out,News

A new study by IFF research has revealed that two-thirds of small-business owners had less than two weeks’ holiday in 2010. The research was carried out on 500 firms and showed that 69% of bosses were unable to take more than 14 days out of the office

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A third of Brits take business calls on holiday

| Lifestyle & Time out,News

New research by internet telephony company Gradwell, has shown that 38% of UK employees take business calls whilst on holiday. The over 65′s and top level management were revealed to be the most guilty of never switching off.

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Get inspired!

| Guides,Working From Home

Working from home with minimal social interaction is an unfortunate, but common scenario for many of us freelance writers. Some might see this as the perk of the job while others might find it has hindering effects on creativity. If you fall under the latter then it is imperative that you take heed of the advice I am about to impart…

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How to switch off for the weekend

| Guides,Lifestyle & Time out

One of the toughest parts of being a freelancer (apart from getting those pesky invoices in on time) can be separating your personal and business lives. If you’re a Sole Trader (rather than a Limited Company) this can be especially hard, as you may use your personal email address and phone number. There’s nothing more annoying than getting a call from a client when you’re trying to relax on a sunny Sunday.

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Stress! And how to deal with it.

| Guides,Lifestyle & Time out

Deadlines, project management, chasing pay, being creative under pressure… it all adds up. From my personal experience and that of managing other designers, I can state one simple fact. Stress is almost always completely self-induced and easily avoided by following a few simple ideas.

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Going freelance: Four ways to get your family to support your freelancing career

| Getting a Job

Choosing to switch from full-time to freelancing can be a tough decision and the change will go a lot smoother if you have the help and support of those closest to you. Freelance Advisor, Coach and Consultant Dianne Bown-Wilson continues her series of articles on freelance career development issues for freelancers and contractors. Nearest and [...]

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