3 Great Benefits Of Freelance Writing Full Time...Or Are They?

By Dan Smith

I’ve always wanted to freelance full time for a variety of reasons. Having done it part time for years, earlier this year I had the opportunity to go full time. Somewhat obviously, it was an opportunity I grabbed with both hands and made sure it became a reality.

When I was freelancing part time, I saw several benefits and so I was really, really eager to see how these benefits developed and unfolded further as I dedicated more time to freelancing.

And in several instances, the benefits did increase considerably. I had my preconceptions of what I thought might happen, but they were completely blown out of the water and working freelance from home on a full time basis on certain levels was — and is — great.

In other respects, however, my preconceptions were once again completely off the mark — but in the sense that things weren’t as I expected them to be.

I think to a certain extent, this has been more about my preconceptions being wrong more than anything else (i.e., I was wrong as to what to expect and it wasn’t freelancing full time that had changed or was different). For some of the points though, things just haven’t turned out as I’d heard they would for whatever reason, making what should be a straight and obvious benefit into something that could have potentially been a huge negative, and these three points are prime examples.

1. You can start the day whenever you want

When I started to freelance full time, I thought I’d be able to set my own hours. I thought I’d be able to get up early and finish early one day if I wanted to or conversely, have a sleep in and work later. I never wanted to work throughout the night, but the idea of not having to get up at a certain time to ‘go to work’ was one of the main reasons why I wanted to freelance full time.

The problem is, most of my clients work 9 to 5, so I generally need to be around during the working day. As I offer a range of different services to clients, a lot of the time I’m needed on the phone, e-mail or Skype, which means working 5am until 1pm could be no good if clients are only available on afternoons

In all honesty, it’s not that much of an issue and it’s something that when I think about it, should have been obvious before I started full time. I do hear this ‘benefit’ talked about quite a lot, however and although I’m sure it’s true for many full time freelancers, I think it’s important to understand that your schedule may not be as flexible as you expected it to be.

The other point to make here is if you don’t have a start time, it’s all too easy to put work off. There have been a few times where I’ve been able to have a flexible day, but I know that if I don’t set a time to start work, it’ll be the middle of the afternoon before I begin. Flexibility is good, but structure is still a necessity.

2. You have more free time

Although I should, in theory, have more control over my schedule in general, giving me more time to enjoy my hobbies, I actually find I have less free time.

On an average day, I’ll get up at about 7.30am and start working. My fiancé works afternoons / early evenings and doesn’t get in until 8pm, so I often work up until this point. When I was working from an office, I could leave at 5.30pm and because I’d physically left the office, I didn’t feel the need to continue working afterwards. Now I’m working from home, unless I get up and walk out of the house, it’s difficult to switch off — the computer is always there, even if it’s in another room.

This isn’t the only reason why I have less free time — another is the fact that I’m fully responsible for my income. This means that generally speaking, the harder and longer I work, the more money I earn. It sounds great in principle, but it really does start to impact upon your personal life, as you just want to work and work and you have no time to enjoy the benefits of doing so.

Maybe that’s just me, but if I was given the choice between working an extra two or three hours and earning x amount of money more or just sitting down and watching TV, I’d naturally be inclined to go for the work situation.

3. It’s not much more difficult than working in a salaried role

Perhaps naively, I assumed working full time freelance wouldn’t be that much different to working in a full time salaried role. I’d of course have my own accounts to do, but I’ve been doing them for years being part time freelance, so it would just be a little extra work, right?

Well no, there’s a lot more work. Not necessarily in terms of extra things to do, but the actual time that’s required.

I’ve always collected receipts and submitted a self-assessment tax return, but because it’s been part time, it’s been really easy. My total part time, self employed income, minus my minimal outgoings and that was it. It took a few hours a year maximum.

Being full time is completely different. I don’t have any salaried role to rely on for money, so I want to ensure I get the most money possible by claiming for everything I possibly can. I also don’t want to be in a position where my accounts get audited and I’m months behind — I don’t have the time to sort them all out in one go, so it’s crucial I keep on top of them on a weekly basis.

But it all takes time. Hours every week. And it’s time I hadn’t factored into my schedule, so when I went full time and had 40 hours worth of work, I — stupidly, admittedly — didn’t think about the administration side, which could easily add an extra few hours onto my working week.

I love freelancing on a full time basis and I’m not saying these points are definitely negatives, but for me, they’re not 100% positive either and I really should have looked more thoroughly before I jumped.

Whether you’re freelancing full time or part time, have you come across anything that’s surprised you (either for the better or worse)?