It a great time be a freelance contractor in the UK, no doubt about that, but sometimes it can be frustrating to hear people say the same things, over and over.
The simple fact of the matter is that explaining yourself is part and parcel of the self employed lifestyle, especially if you work from home on a freelancing or contracting basis.
Family, friends, neighbours and complete strangers, are curious, confused, and even downright baffled when you are still chilling in your pyjamas at 2 in the afternoon.
This often leads to a barrage of comments and questions, which at first you don’t mind responding to…but after a while you just want to ignore.
When are you planning to get a real job? This is one of the questions that gets asked the most to freelance contractors, and many are tired of hearing it.
Fortunately, being self employed is a real job, and even if other people will never accept your answers, at least you can take satisfaction from the knowledge you probably make more than they do, while working less hours. Take that!
“I wish I could work part time,” is another statement you might hear from members of the general public as they witness you sitting in the garden in your dressing gown at 4pm.
What they don’t realise, of course, is that the amount of hours you put in to a job has nothing to do with the amount you are paid.
Traditional employees may very well clock in and out every day and do their 8 hours, but only 1 or 2 hours of that is typically productive. In contrast, a self employed freelancer can put in 4 hours of focused work and get way more done.
Do you offer a cheap rate, mate…rates for mates? No doubt many self employed people have heard those words, to the point where even the slightest inclination that a mate is about to ask for a cheap rate, or even a freebie, well, it sends you running.
It would be nice if you could work for cheap whenever friends and family needed something doing, but you can’t get away from the fact you need to make a living, and in the freelance and contractor world that means charging as much as possible…not working for free.
“Work at home jobs are scams.” You’ve no doubt heard that one, and are tired of hearing it if you hang around with a lot of people in traditional employment.
It seems they just can’t comprehend how someone can avoid commuting to and from work everyday in traffic, then avoid the office politics and taking orders from a boss, and then avoid even having to leave the house…to the point where getting up at lunch time is a regular thing.
“You will have to get a real job soon,” they say for the 100th time. Yes, you are tired of hearing it, but you know the truth which means you get the last laugh.
