By Sophia Smith
Whether you reside in the sweltering marvels of Australia or you spend your time trotting around the US, being a freelancer can take a serious toll on your lifestyle and wellbeing if you fail to manage your needs. What’s more, working as a freelancer means that you need to adapt your work capacity to meet the needs of your clients and to reach very specific goals. That can be hindered by the sudden need to move, whether your visa has expired, or there’s an opportunity to move to a different part of the country for an event or a potential client.
However, pursuing your professional goals as a freelancer requires building and refining a few practical skills that will help you succeed and be productive on the go. Working and moving from time to time can be taxing on your time, energy, and budget, so we have devised a few core steps you should take to stay efficient with your pursuits and avoid burnout!
Create a detailed timeline
Whether you’re using your Google Calendar or a dedicated planning app, these digital planners are perfect for this very occasion. Even though the moving process might seem fairly straightforward, you could miss a crucial step if you fail to note all the milestones down.
- Outline your packing schedule – set aside an hour or so a day in the week prior to your move to make sure you’ve packed everything, other than your work gear.
- Include your exercise program to save time and to invest in your health, because this will be stressful either way, and boosting your health is a must.
- Prepare and secure your most sensitive and fragile items properly.
- Research the road you’ll take so that you can get ample rest before you hit the road, but also stay energized with healthy snacks.
Get help and tips from pros
Changing states can be a particularly cumbersome process for any freelancer. Now, while you can definitely manage a portion of it yourself, it’s wise to get country-specific information, for instance, if you’re going to move across the vast distances of Australia. Talking to professionals and seeking their guidance can save you time and energy for your move.
When you decide to self-hire a vehicle, you can follow a detailed guide for moving interstate and thus make a seamless transition to your new home. Practical tips such as determining your fuel needs, ample rest stops, and even essentials such as proper hydration will help you keep your energy up, so that you can start working sooner, rather than later once you’ve completed your move.
Notify your clients in time
Since you’re your own employer and you’re in charge of managing all of your client relationships properly, they will appreciate knowing about your move. Not only if you’re moving to a different time zone, which will impact your meeting times, but also for the sake of understanding your limited availability.
Whether you choose to hire professionals or self-hire a vehicle to manage the process yourself, it’s crucial to communicate your schedule changes with your clients. That way, they’ll know when they can reach you and if there are urgent projects, they’ll know when you’re available to take them on.
Keep your work essentials by your side
For freelancers organizing their very first major move, it’s easy to get sidetracked and start stuffing your boxes with every little cable and charger you can get a hold of, but that can be counterproductive. If you’re going to work during the move and not take any days off, since you’ll be packing well in advance, you should take note of everything you’ll be needing to work productively.
Don’t pack up your most essential gadgets, including your laptop, phone and chargers, but also make sure that you have what you need for note-taking, video conferencing (such as noise-canceling headphones), to make this transition as smooth as possible.
Work a few extra hours in advance
Strictly logistically speaking, it’s far simpler to add a single daily hour of work into your week or two before the move, than to squeeze all the tasks into a single day, right? Following this simple logic, you can calculate how much time you need to invest in your ongoing projects to stay on track with each deadline.
Then, since you have communicated your moving plans with your clients, you can work out a schedule in advance to deliver work beforehand. This will leave you a couple of those crucial days during the move to pack and unpack, and to settle in your new place of residence.
Moving across the country (or the pond) means an entirely different set of chores and tasks than your average trip. With the right planning approach and ample preparation, you can keep up with your workload without feeling overwhelmed at any given time. Make sure to still stick to your health and self-care steps during and in the days prior to the move, as you’ll preserve even more energy thanks to your dedication!
