Achieving the perfect work-life balance as an IT freelancer

The Covid-19 pandemic opened many employees’ eyes to the world of remote or hybrid working that they never previously thought possible to achieve a better work-life balance. This led to IT consultants turning to freelancing to create greater flexibility in their schedules to spend more time with their families or out with friends enjoying their hobbies rather than being restricted to the 9-5 routine and a time-consuming office commute.

A 2021 survey of self-employed individuals reported that 40% of new freelancers chose to work independently to improve their mental health and well-being. However, 3 out of 4 self-employed people experienced burnout, and just 23% took a vacation the previous year. This data shows that self-employed professionals may not be achieving the perfect work-life balance they set out to when they first decided to become a freelancer.

Creating a healthy work-life balance is a must for consultants and freelancers working independently without the support of an employer or other team members.

For some of us, that’s easier said than done. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with both the administrative tasks that come with running your own business as well as managing clients’ expectations and workloads so much that it begins to take over your life in ways you didn’t envision when you decided to become independent.

If your work-life balance is off track, it’s time to regain control to improve your life. In this article, we will look at exactly why a good work-life balance is essential and some ideas on how to improve yours and keep it working in your favour so you do not become overwhelmed with your workload.

Why is your work-life balance important?

Work-life balance is the balance between your personal life and your work life. We all aim to find the perfect balance between the two so we are happy and content on both sides of our lives. This can mean different things for different individuals. For those with a family, it might mean having a flexible schedule so you can be available for school events or holidays. For others, it might be the option to increase earnings to save for a mortgage faster. Whatever your motivation, having a good work-life balance is good for our mental health and general well-being.

Those with an excellent work-life balance experience reduced stress levels and greater happiness in all areas of their lives. By contrast, those of us who do not have a good work-life balance are more likely to suffer from stress and burnout. This can have a knock-on effect on our personal lives and affect our relationships and general joy in life.

It can be challenging to stick to strict working hours as a freelancer working from home alone or at a client’s site. Running a business takes a lot of time and energy. You not only have to work on projects, but you also need to spend time finding clients, sending proposals, managing your financial accounts, sending invoices, and creating reminders for unpaid invoices. The list of admin tasks is never-ending, but it’s all essential to the running of any successful freelance business, and many freelancing consultants find that it creeps into their life 24/7.

So as a freelance IT consultant, what makes it so difficult to strike the perfect work-life balance?

SEPARATING PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIVES

Many freelancing IT consultants tend to spend their 9-5 office hours, whether at home or onsite, working on their projects. This means that everything else that comes with running a company still needs to be done, which usually impacts the freelancers’ personal time. At the end of the working day, all freelancers need to keep on top of the following as well as work on their assignments:

• Searching for and pitching to prospective new clients

• Managing their companies admin

• Chasing clients to get paid on time

• Undertaking continuous training to stay up to date with new trends

• Investing time and energy to get approved for loans and mortgages because there are no payslips

• Working from home – usually alone can make it difficult to set office hours or switch off from work when there is much admin to do.

All these elements can tip your work-life balance as a freelancer in the wrong direction. For busy professionals, there are simply not enough hours of the day to keep on top of the business admin tasks and projects, and this is when freelancers tend to get stressed out and begin to feel overwhelmed or suffer from burnout.

Many IT professionals look to use management companies to help them keep on top of their business admin and day-to-day management to allow them more time to concentrate on their assignments. If this could help your freelancing business, you can find out more about joining the Hightekers network here.

How to balance your work-life as a freelancing IT professional?

There is no perfect formula for IT freelancers to create the ideal work-life balance, but it is crucial to find one that works for you if you want to avoid becoming burned out or overwhelmed in running your business.

We are all different, and what stresses one person out wouldn’t phase another, so it’s essential to understand your limits and stressors to create a work-life balance that works for you. This doesn’t necessarily involve a straight 50:50 split of your time but instead finding a balance that works for you, so you are able to work productively and enjoy both sides of your life. Here are our top tips for creating the ideal work-life balance.

SET WORKING HOURS – AND STICK TO THEM

Making yourself available around the clock means you will never truly switch off. Set your freelancing working hours and stick to them. Set time aside for your business admin and other tasks so everything gets done in good time.

It’s important to realise setting your working hours doesn’t have to mean 9-5. One of the freelancing lifestyle’s main attractions is its flexibility. So if that means starting at 5 or 6 am or working evenings, that’s fine as long as you know your office hours and try not to let them creep into your personal time. Make it clear to your clients when you are and when you are not available to manage expectations.

CREATE A WORK SCHEDULE

If you have multiple tasks to complete for clients plus administrative tasks, it can be hard to prioritise and work through everything in a systematic and efficient manner without a plan. By planning and dividing up your work schedule, you’ll have a better overview of what needs to be done and also what is still pending.

If you find you are more productive at a particular time of day, schedule your most demanding tasks for those times and leave the less labour-intensive tasks to the times when you feel less productive. For example, make a habit of not checking email whilst working on a job to avoid unnecessary distractions. Set aside time for these tasks so you don’t feel pressured to respond to emails throughout the day, which can break your concentration.

CONSIDER USING A MANAGEMENT OR UMBRELLA COMPANY

There are several umbrella or management companies out there that can help manage the running of a consultant or freelancing company. Essentially they allow freelancers to work freely without the other constraints that come with running a business. Freelancers choosing to work as an employee of an umbrella or management company benefit from having the status of the employee but still having the freedom to select clients and the volume of projects they want to work on.

These companies also handle the admin side of the freelancing business, which helps many consultants separate their professional and private lives more easily. If you want to find out more, you can read up on our article on what a management company does for more information.

Hightekers – more than an average umbrella company

So what sets Hightekers apart from a traditional umbrella company? First and foremost, our focus is on the IT and Engineering industry. All consultants within our network are IT professionals. We have developed and finetuned our expertise in this industry so we can best support IT professionals like you rather than offering a generalised umbrella company service that acts as your employee but with no industry specialism. When you choose Hightekers as your management company, you can benefit from the following:

• A dedicated expert to manage your account and answer any questions you have.

• Access to a network of over 3000 IT professionals

• PAYE status and administrative support for your business

• You always get paid at the end of the month

• Help negotiating contracts to get the best possible deal based on your skills and experience.

• All the benefits that come with an employee-partner status

• Assistance with training and development

• HR support

Part of Highteker’s mission is to help IT professionals achieve a better work-life balance by allowing them to focus on their freelancing assignments by taking on all the administrative tasks that come with running a business which can interfere with their lives outside of office hours. Get a better work-life balance today by joining the Hightekers management network now.