Freelancing isn't only about learning a skill and starting to work through freelance platforms. At least those who want to succeed as a freelancer know it well. It takes many additional skills to add to your portfolio to survive in the competitive freelance landscape. In today's blog, we share five general yet essential skills freelancers should learn to thrive in their freelance careers.

1.   Time Management

The best thing about freelancing is the freedom to work. Unlike a 9 to 5 job where you should reach 9 and work fixed hours whether you want or not, freelancing makes you your own boss. But with this freedom, freelancers often go lazy and mess up their schedules. Even when you are the boss, there are always deadlines; the only difference is that there is no one to plan your day like a manager.

So, keeping your day organized is important. Look at your projects and their delivery date and time. Note down other tasks to do as a freelancer, such as sending emails, creating invoices, etc. Once you know what you need to achieve in the day, it's time to create a flexible schedule to work efficiently.

2.   Adaptability

As a freelancer, you never work for a single client. There are always multiple clients for whom to work as a freelancer. Thus, in a freelancer skill set, adaptability is foremost. Freelancing is mostly done for creative fields, and these fields have a unique thing about them. What's that? Every client or brand has unique needs for freelance services based on their brand tone, languages, and colours. So, you should be able to adapt to these factors, which always differ from client to client.

3.   Money Management

Even if you earn more than you may have earned in a job, not getting a lump sum amount every month on the 1st day is a problem that every freelancer deals with. As a freelancer, you will always receive monthly money on different dates. So, you should have money management skills to save your money just like you can in a salaried job.

4.   Self Motivation

Lack of motivation is real and can affect your productivity. Hence, keeping yourself motivated is crucial. Now, you may think, how is this a skill? It's a skill because it takes you to identify when you are not productive and should take a break instead of working forcefully and delivering a project that will certainly get reverted with comments.

The best way to self-motivate is to cut off work immediately with the help of movies or whatever else your favourite hobby is. As you start feeling light, think of why you are a freelancer and not an employee. The reasons range from earning more to earning at home and staying with your family more or any other reason that you think you are a freelancer for.

5.   Social Media Management

The world of freelancing has changed ever since social media entered the chat. For most of the creative fields, social media platforms bring a lot of opportunities to freelancers. Even the new-gen freelance platforms are very similar to social media platforms. That's why being able to manage your social media accounts is a key skill to add.

Final Words

These are the skills that you should acquire as a freelancer. However, all these skills are not field-specific. So, it doesn't mean that these are the only skills to acquire. You should keep practising other skills that are important to evolving in your industry.