(Not) a freelance artist: the pros and cons of freelancing

Out of 13 working years, I spent only three months in the office. I will never return!” exclaims Agatha, 36, an environmental engineer by profession. She had already forgotten “what it’s like not to manage your time.” “What is done in the office in eight hours, at home – in four. No one is noisy, no distracting, no talking over the ear on the phone. The way back and forth is wasted time, and this is a valuable and irreplaceable resource.” It is convenient for 33-year-old Polina that there is no need to take sick leave, especially since she has two children and they often get sick.

“But freelancing means zero confidence in the future, constant search for new clients and projects, no social package,” she notes. — For me, the lack of minimum stability outweighs all the pluses. So I found the middle option – remote work.” What are the advantages and disadvantages of free swimming? And who should choose it instead of the usual corporate everyday life, and who should not?

Freelancing and remote work: what’s the difference?

“The concepts of “remote work” and “freelance” are often confused,” says psychotherapist Alexei Mikhalsky. – The first involves a full-time employee who is not in the office, but is constantly in touch. He is subject to the rules and requirements, spirit and ethics common in the corporation. There is also a mixed combination – three days in the office, two – remotely.

A freelancer is a completely different kind of worker. As a rule, this is a person who performs the volume one-time or periodically. This is even a completely different psychological type – “a wolf that is fed by the legs.” He can have many customers at the same time. Irreplaceable qualities are patience and the will to win. You also need sociability and the ability to negotiate, sell yourself and professionalism. In order to actually start your own business, you need perseverance, faith and understanding, which may not work out quickly.” An office or remote “staff worker” does not need these qualities, the tasks that they face are less diverse.

“A freelancer aims to get as many orders and money as possible,” adds business coach Vladimir Yakuba. “Many of my business clients find it easy to work with remote full-time employees, but they try not to get involved with freelancers, even former ones. They will always take parallel orders, no matter how much they are paid. According to the principle of “seven hats I will sew.” And one day – especially over a long distance – it will affect the quality.

Freelancers do not hide the fact that they are aimed at maximum earnings, so that there will always be accumulated “fat”, because one month can be dense, and the other empty. But not everyone is able to adequately assess the real volume of work and their physical capabilities. 48-year-old Elena, a journalist and editor of corporate publications, succeeds: “When you deal with timing yourself, the rush jobs that are inevitable in large teams with multi-stage communications are transformed into the distribution of work according to clear deadlines. Because of this, I achieve a lot. But sometimes you have to refuse some orders if you realize that you can’t eat the whole elephant.”

Unpredictable freelance work requires more diligence and responsibility than office and remote full-time workers, says Valery, 45, program director at the radio station. Like most of his subordinates, for several years now he has appeared in the office only on corporate holidays. “Everything else “lives” in my smartphone and laptop. People themselves know when to get sick and rest, they have a deadline, a sales plan, a release schedule, and everything works like clockwork. In addition, I have spare frames on which I can reroll the task. Freelancing is a kind of selection.”

Why is freelancing not for everyone?

Not everyone can be a freelance artist. “An absolutely necessary quality for a freelancer is self-discipline,” says Aleksey Mikhalsky. – For a full-time employee, two habits that are known to him since school are important: get out of bed in the morning and come to the office. A freelancer, on the other hand, also has to carefully plan time for the weeks ahead, take into account his own professional development: whoever stands still is obviously lagging behind competitors. And also provide financial management, more health care and regulation of activity during the day. A beginner who does not yet know these subtleties or thinks that he can easily cope with them is enough for six months or a year, and then back to the office.

Not everyone is entrepreneurial—there are great performers who need outside guidance. “Being a “cog in a big machine” is not always bad, says psychodramatherapist Anastasia Bashlykova. – When you move according to a given algorithm, you save personal energy for thinking and organizing the process. If it is difficult to plan your time, then working in a corporation is a good support. There is a clearer understanding of the prospects, you can “cook” in a professional environment and enrich yourself with knowledge and experience. There are many people in offices who prefer communication on work topics to other types of communication.”

Julia, 39, works for a large corporation but from home. The reason was the illness of the youngest son, which requires her constant monitoring. The working day is sometimes from 9 to 18, sometimes it goes past midnight. “Pros: the trust of management and a certain degree of freedom, this gives a powerful impetus to development. I take care of the health of the child and I am calm for him. And I got the opportunity to learn. When working in an office, this would not be possible.”

But not every boss is ready to trust remote workers. Ilya, 41, head of marketing and advertising of 15 employees in a large international company, does not hide his bewilderment: “How can you work from home? This is unthinkable in terms of discipline. I have contracts all over the world, different time zones. I will never put all the information together if I do not control the process directly in the office.

Benefits of working in an office

“After a long office job, I liked freelancing, and I didn’t lose money,” recalls Daria. – However, I became very bored and madly wanted to “become people”! I yearned for gossip in the smoking room, for birthdays. I dreamed of “walking” dresses in order to catch the glances of male colleagues. And I could not stand it – I returned.

50-year-old Innessa worked for 20 years in a large corporation with several thousand employees. “It’s like sailing on a huge ship – any waves are compensated by its size and errors are not critical. More willing to pay for education. You gain experience that is comparable to studying at a good university, and valuable contacts for life and throughout the country.”

But freelancing is not obligatory to celebrate birthdays and chip in for gifts and your favorite office show called “undercover games,” 38-year-old Irina rejoices: “How much blood these white-collar wars drank from me! Instead of normal effective teamwork – intrigue.

For many of us, shared rituals are essential as a way of structuring our lives. “Organized coffee breaks, corporate dinners, holidays and traditions in the team are very important for many,” says Anastasia Bashlykova. “The dress code for someone turns out to be an organizing factor, it enhances involvement in the spirit of the company, a sense of community.”

Outside the office, the line between work and home is often blurred. Therefore, 49-year-old freelancer Alexander wears a tie to switch from “home” to “work” mode. “All freelancers have different ways of setting up for work, rituals,” explains Aleksey Mikhalsky. – Someone, like Alexander, clothes helps to get into the working rhythm, another – a morning cup of coffee at the computer or a specially selected melody. The brain activates the habit regardless of the owner’s desire, and thus another daily bridge is built between “need” and “do it”.

Relationships at work and parent-child conflict

An employee’s relationship with the company often turns out to be similar to those that he had with his parents or other significant people in childhood, Anastasia Bashlykova believes. Child-parent relationships are the “template” that sets the format for adult social interactions.

Giving parental powers to a person of higher social status, the adult himself involuntarily finds himself in the position of a child: “Parents are fully responsible for ensuring our basic needs in childhood, they also regulate the degree of freedom of the child and provide opportunities for creativity.

An adult can unconsciously completely transfer responsibility for his life support to a “parental figure” – the boss, the owner of the business. In turn, he is ready to be committed to the company and carefully follow its charter. There are also “rebellious children” whose position is “you owe me, but I don’t owe you.” Those who have been adequately supported as children have a secure “good parent” figure inside, and their “inner child” does not need to rely on an external authority figure. Such a person accepts his 50% responsibility in relationships, is not afraid to abandon those where his interests are infringed.

If there is always “something wrong” with work, you can look for that children’s dialogue with parents that was not completed as you wanted. It will be a story about support and freedom, which, alas, could not be obtained in sufficient measure. And it is precisely such scenarios that adults often try to “replay”, complete happily, gain what they did not receive once in their distant childhood.