Embarking on the adventure of freelance translation in a tent of more than one. Freedom to work wherever and
whenever you want, deciding your schedules and escaping office life are among
the goals to be achieved for the most part. But this quest for freedom
must be accompanied by an above-average organizational capacity. As an
image is better than a long speech, the one below sums it all up.
It is not limited
to freelance translators but targets all freelancers (editors, coders,
programmers, virtual assistants... all of them!).
Having a motivating environment
Surrounding yourself with inspiration and dressing to
work are two ways a freelancer keeps motivated. Working from
home deprives you of the atmosphere of an office that helps you stay focused on
your tasks.
Just as a student
studies better in a library, it is necessary to keep an office feel at
home. You'll get there by avoiding staying in over-casual
attire. Without going up to the costume (but it's up to you to judge) it's
pretty simple to put on an outfit that would be suitable for a real workplace.
Then stimulate your inspiration and concentration by
surrounding yourself with elements consistent with your work as a freelance
translator, such as a specialized dictionary.
Maintaining this motivation
The relevance of
the following paragraph depends very much on the basis of the people. But
you won't know for yourself unless you try.
One of the dangers
of working as a freelancer is to dilute your activity in your daily
life. The result is less productivity compared to hours
worked. Barring urgent translation, it is often a good idea to set a full
time of time for your activity.
A start schedule,
but also an end time. Otherwise, the risk is not being productive
enough. Having a set time to complete your work forces you to work better
to finish within that time frame.
This rule will
help you maintain a good work-life balance, often undermining for a home-based
freelancer.
Promote your freelance business
Don't forget to
keep time for prospecting. Acquiring new customers on a regular basis is
an absolute necessity to avoid being in a bad position at some point.
It is easy today
to establish a small professional site containing information about you and
especially about your previous work, as well as recommendations from your
clients and translation agencies.
