Today I started my new project and that is to try my luck as a freelancer. I am still employed as of the moment, however, after working from home for more than a couple of months now, I can’t stop thinking about being a full-time freelancer.
I read a lot of blogs and watched videos on Youtube about freelancing. It’s a growing industry and I might not be surprised if the number of freelancers will increase exponentially with the advent of COVID-19 pandemic.
Working from home (WFH) is our new normal. I remember last year during our team meeting about what innovation we can apply to our workplace and the idea about working from home was opened for discussion. Our partners have their reservations about working from home arrangement. At that time, we were still used to the idea that we need to come to the office and be visible while showing that we are productive and we deliver results. Ouf office is playing a different tune now, our leaders are now open to the idea of working from home.
I myself started to getting used to the new set-up. Gone are the times spent commuting to the office. It is replaced by logging in and messaging the team that I am online and ready for work. Skype, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams became our best friends as they are our means in communicating with our team members and clients. During the first week, I was excited to work wearing t-shirts while I was still on my pajamas. The living room and the dining table became my office area and conference room. Overflowing coffee and unlimited snacks are up for grab from the kitchen. But reality started to kick in. Since I am working at the comfort of our home, my time spent at work suddenly became infinite. Although I could take a break at my own phase, but my time spent to work has extended beyond my working hours as compared when I am in the office. Indeed there is Yin and Yang for everything. As they say, we can’t have the best of both worlds. As much as I enjoy working from home, it comes with its disadvantages along the way. Something that I need to dwell in.
Now I could say I am getting the rhythm of working from home and at some point, got a glimpse of what kind of life a typical freelancer has. No office worker to have a chit chat while preparing coffee in the pantry. No meetings in person as all meetings are virtually done via video calls and tons of email exchanges and text messages sent from various forms of media every day. I might be wrong when I compare my experience working from home with a typical freelancer but what I am sure of is that I could only see the tip of the iceberg.
Working from home is an eye-opener for me. It’s my avenue of wanting to know more about doing freelancing. We all know that there is money in freelancing and it’s a decent source of passive income. As a corporate man for more than a decade now, it is important for me to start creating a passive income. Freelancing is one of them.
Today, I launched my new blog, my way to freedom… freelancing and becoming rich. I will write about my experiences and updates along the way. Wish me luck.
PC
