Freelance Tip: Follow your Gut

Some things aren’t taught they are learned. Your college or university lecturer wouldn’t (couldn’t!) teach you things you have to learn for yourself. If I was to create a list of things I’ve learned the hard way it would be a whole blog series.

When you’re new to freelancing you chase every project going which has it’s problems. If you say yes to everything you may find yourself struggling for inspiration which then effects your productivity.

TL;DR: When you’re seeking a new project make sure you follow your gut. It may save you time and money.

Freelancers:
Q1: If a project is out of your comfort zone do you push ahead or step back?
Q2: How important to you is following your gut feelings when accepting projects?
— Mike Hince (@zer0mike) February 28, 2019

Advice: It’s OK to accept shitty jobs. We all have to at some point. Just don’t make it a regular occurrence.

There is one thing that isn’t taught in design lessons that is really simple to follow, it will make your working life a whole lot easier.

—

Follow your gut.

Sounds simple, right? But what are the factors?

One. You may not get along with the clients you’re talking too.

Two. The project might be out of your comfort zone

Three. You may be OK with pushing your comfort zone but the risk of failing is too high.

Four. The client wants a bargain

Five. You don’t have time to do the project justice

—

So it’s much more complicated than this and your gut get’s stronger over time, experience is critical to letting your gut learn.

Side note: Read about my experience. 10 years as a Freelance Designer.

Advice: It’s OK to make mistakes, just make sure you learn from them and be honest with your clients.

To round this blog off, here are some tips from my Twitter network. If you want to contribute connect with me on Twitter.

If it sparks interest but my inner critic says „you can’t do it“ I do it. If it makes me uncomfortable so no interest but bad feeling, I decline.
— Julius Koroll (@juliuskoroll) February 28, 2019

Q2. Always trust my gut. I can usually tell after a 60 second phone call what kind of project it will be. Hasn’t failed me yet.
— Jo Eyre (@Jo_Eyre) March 1, 2019

Going outside your comfort zone is how is a good way to grow.. you need to trust your gut though to know whether it is outside your remit or going to improve you as a designer/developer.
— Sush Kelly (@maxray) February 28, 2019

Q1: Depends. If it's in my skill set and I can learn on the job, then I'm happy to do it. If it's outside of my skill set, I'll usually refer them. It's all about whether I can deliver what they want/need.
— Marc Jenkins (@marcjenkins) February 28, 2019

Personal projects… outside my comfort zone is no problem. Professional work needs to be on time and in budget, unfortunately I am not paid to learn. Follow the gut is good, we all learn from experience and shouldn’t ignore it.
— Dominic FrazerImregh (@domfrazerimregh) March 2, 2019

Thanks to the contributions from everyone above.

Featured Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash
Egg Photo by KS KYUNG on Unsplash

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