Freelancing to Freedom

Have you ever really thought about time? It’s such an abstract concept, yet in North America, we are completely ruled by it. We’ve broken down our lives into small chunks: eat at this time, work at this time, sleep at this time, take vacation at this time.

I’ve been thinking a lot about time lately, and it’s become a new goal of mine to realize when it’s ruling my life and to change my attitude towards it. As I think I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m a morning person. From 6:00 a.m. until about noon, I have a ton of energy. In the afternoon, I start to slow down and find it difficult to produce the same quality of work. Then in the early evening, I get a new burst of energy. Rather than setting standard, nine-to-five work hours for myself, I’ve made it a priority to work with my natural flow of energy.

Surprisingly, this can come with a lot of guilt. Often when I shut down my computer in the early afternoon I think to myself, “Everyone else is still working. You should be too if you want to be successful.” This idea is completely false, though. It’s a matter of breaking free of a mindset that society has ingrained in us from a young age. Being a freelancer has given me the freedom to work when I know I can produce the highest-quality results. This in turn has resulted in satisfied clients and better productivity. It’s also been better for my own well being.

When I was travelling last month, it took me a long time to let go of the North American concept of time. I was always asking fellow travellers what time it was and would eat at what would be considered an appropriate time, regardless of whether I was hungry. After spending considerable time watching people live by their internal clocks (eating when they were hungry, sleeping when they were tired, and planning activities according to their energy levels), I finally stopped obsessing about time. I walked more slowly. And I felt more refreshed than I’ve ever felt in my life.

If you are a freelancer, I challenge you to stop living by the clock for a few days and spend your time in a way that feels natural. You might be surprised at the positive results. Even if you’re not a freelancer, I challenge you to stop obsessing about time. Enjoy every minute  instead of endlessly planning out chunks of time in the future. Relax. This life is all we have.

Namaste 🙂