Working When You Want, Where You Want

Almost every freelance opportunity promises a life in which you can work whenever and wherever you want. But ask anyone who works as a freelancer and they'll tell you the claims that freelancers can work when they want and where they want are mostly true but they're also partly misleading.

Can Your Really Make Your Own Hours?

When you work as a freelancer can you really take Monday and Friday off and work a 3-day work week? You bet you can. You can take Flag Day and even your birthday off, too. As a freelancer, you can work as much or as little as you want.

But guess what? When you work as a freelancer, there's no one to hand you a paycheck at the end of every week. Your compensation is now dependant upon the amount of money you bring in. If you don't have income coming in one week because you took time off, you might not get paid.

If you're using a loan to help fund your freelancing career, you can draw against that money and pay yourself, but only for as long as the loan is funded.

Knowing that you're the one who's responsible for generating enough income to cover salary and your other expenses puts a slightly different spin on the "freedom to set your own hours" claim.

The truth is, you have to work long enough each week to make sure you've got enough money coming in to cover all your bills. You'll have to work even more if you want to have money left over for some fun!

When you branch out on your own, in general it's unreasonable to expect that you'll be working fewer hours than you do now. In fact, there's a good chance you're going to be working more than you do now.

But even though you might still put in 10 or 12 hours a day, you do get to choose the hours you work. In other words, you can break out of the "normal business hours" mold. Usually.

Can you really work where you want?

I say usually because where you work depends on your situation. If you happen to land a freelance assignment where the client wants you to work on-site (in other words, at the client's place of business), you'll be working the hours the client wants you to work. And that just might be Monday thru Friday from 8 am until 5 pm!

If you don't have to work on site, then as long as you've got what you need to be productive, you can work wherever you want. Plenty of freelancers nowadays need just a laptop and an internet connection to do their jobs. With wireless capability becoming so widespread, these lucky individuals really can work at a park or the beach, or at their favorite coffee shops!

And yes, working at home - in your pajamas - is a possibility! Freelancers don't have bosses, do they? Find out in the next article.