Passion for Freelance Work– What If You’ve Lost It?

“Beep, beep,beep!” , your alarm clock wails in the morning which signals the beginning of another day. The way you’ll treat that beat could tell if you love what you do each day or not. Some would jump out of bed with excitement and with a huge smile on their faces as they get ready for work. A “good morning sunshine” greeting would come out of their lips as they munch their breakfast and take a sip of the aromatic caffeine on a cup. A lively and happy scene isn’t it? But there are some who would hate alarm clocks and consider it irksome. For them, it is a signal of another long day in work. They’ll think nothing else but to finish their tasks or see the sunset to end the day.

You have seen two situations. Who has real passion for work? Of course, we would end up with the same answer. The one who was eager to go to work has passion for it. One’s passion for work can be reflected not just on the way he work but also on how he prepares for work and how his outputs look like. Passion is one thing that each of us needs so we can be better in everything we do. In this post, we will talk about being passionate with your design and freelance jobs. Aside from that, we will give you tips on how you can refuel that passion if you feel that it’s gone.

What Passion is Not

Many would claim that they are passionate of what they are doing. A person might say that he loves what he does but you can see that he is always stressed with work and sometimes even unproductive. Passion is sometimes misunderstood by some. They look at it in a different way. Before we jump into the meaning of passion, let us talk about what passion is NOT.

When one is knowledgeable about something and is considered an expert on it, he already has an edge on the certain field but it doesn’t mean that he is already passionate of what he does. There could be other reasons why he knows a lot about it. Like he could be a teacher or he could work on the field which is the reason why he is equipped with knowledge. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is already his passion.

One might also think that having skills acquired from a job also means being passionate about it. Passion also doesn’t refer to one’s talent because not all people are passionate about their talents. Getting enough experience for a certain field also doesn’t fall under passion. So, if you have skills, talents and experiences, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you already have the passion on something. So, what really is passion?

What Passion Really Is

Passion is when you have enthusiasm for work. It could be something that you already love to do or it could be something that you learned to love doing. When we talk passion, we talk about love. Nah. Not the romantic love of course but your love for work. Passion is that feeling of excitement that seems like a group of electrons rises up your veins. It keeps you energized for work no matter how heavy the workload is.

People who are passionate with their work do not regard time and effort a lot. It seems that they’ll forget time and would merely be focused on what they are doing. You will merely be surprised that the day is already over and your task is also over. This is because the energy you have for the task has lifted all the tiredness and worries away. You have poured out everything in your work giving it your best shot. The result? You get an excellent output while you are still in perfect condition. You might even have time to go out with friends.

It is said that when you enjoy what you are doing, you tend to get better results. Do you agree with this? Doesn’t it feel good to be doing something with passion? Also, when you are passionate, you give more value to what you do. This means that you won’t settle for anything less but you would always go for the best. Passion brings out the best in you into what you do. This is what you call putting passion into action.

How to Remain Passionate

Let us say you already have that passion. You are always in high spirits to work and you so love what you are doing. But do you think you’ll remain that way? There would be times that we feel tired and drained despite that passion we have for work, for freelancing and for design. Hence, it is important that we are take steps to remain passionate. Here are five things that might help you:

1. Be committed. Commitment in your work is one thing that will keep you passionate. So be sure that you are fully committed to it. If you create a list of tasks to do, follow it the way you planned it. This is one way of showing commitment to your work.

2. Prioritize. Prioritizing tasks could help you remain passionate because you have a certain direction for work. Remember the “first things first” rule. You won’t succeed unless you take the first step. It would also help if you work on the hardest task first.

3. Stay inspired and motivated. With inspiration and motivation, you will surely keep going. You would need this especially for your design projects. And you will also be energized to work with continuous flow of creative ideas.

What If You Have Lost the Passion to Work?

No matter how energetic you are every time you wake up in the morning and get ready for work, there will be instances when you feel like you are already drained. You might even feel like you no longer want to do your work which you used to love. It’s like you have lost the appetite to eat your favorite meal. What could be wrong? There are many reasons why a person could lose the passion to work.

Sometimes, there are some people around you who try to bring you down or who are negative about your work. You might shrug them off most of the time but sometimes, you could think of what they are saying and this might give you negatives thoughts too. Negative thinking could lead to poor work performance. This could also make you stop doing what you love to do! Another reason why people suddenly stop being passionate about something are situations in their lives that might change them like big problems, a busy lifestyle towards a different field and others. So, if you wanna get back to work or if you wanna bring to life that passionate side of you, check on the tips below:

1. Reflect on your purpose.

Try to think of why you do design or you work as a freelancer. Why did you prefer to work at home instead of a day job? Did you wanted to work without a boss? Did you wanted to take hold of your time? This will surely help you to regain that passion.

2. Count your blessings.

Look back at all the blessings you gain from your freelance job. How much did you earn for the past months? What were the things that you were able to buy from it? What were the activities that you were able to do because of your flexible time? What is its impact to your personality and your entire life? Check on all the great things you got from the job. Start from the small things and then look at the much greater ones. For sure, this will urge you to get back to work.

3. Track your achievements.

Aside from the blessings, why don’t you check on what you were able to do in your freelance career? How many clients did you have? Try to recall the feedbacks of your clients. Well, the good ones will help a lot so you better think of the positive feedbacks. How is your freelance standing? If you own a website, check on the statistics. Do you have a growing number of traffic? Your achievements can encourage you to work better and to achieve even more.

4. Assess work.

If the problem is about your work, then reassess. Is your work process not effective? Is your work flow making things much harder? Do you have a hard time dealing with clients? If you have problem clients, you do not have to stay with them. You can do away with these types of clients. Are you having a hard time with a project? Then, seek help from other designers. You can always get assistance from them or you can also let them do the project for you and of course, pay them. There are always ways to fix problems. Just assess them well so you can get the right solution.

5. Redesign your home office.

Your environment has a huge impact to your work performance. Take a minute to check your home office. Is it cluttered? Are the files just placed anywhere? Then organize it. You might need a redesign or you can choose a better location for your home office like an area near the window. You can read on Why Freelancers Need a Good Working Environment at Home for more points on this.

6. Take a break.

Why don’t you take a break? Aside from minute breaks from work, you can actually go on a vacation. Don’t feel guilty about leaving your desk because everyone deserves a break. This way, you will be able to recharge and even refuel your creativity. When you get back, you will be energized to work again.

7. Boost your rate.

You might feel that you are working too much and that your works are really way better now. Well, you deserve a boost in your rate because it really won’t be good to work on something with all the best you can do then receive a low payment for it. Increase your rates for new clients and for sure you will feel a lot better about it. This can also keep you going knowing that you are actually earning more now.

8. Improve your portfolio.

Since you will be boosting your rate, do not forget to improve your portfolio. This way, clients can see that you have advanced your work quality and that you are really worth the price. Always remember that your portfolio is your representation to the clients. So, work hard on it.

9. Converse with other freelancers.

When you feel down and you are facing some problems with your freelancing, the best thing you can do is to talk with someone who can relate to your situation. They can also give you advice and will even encourage you to continue with your work. There are times that you need more than just encouragements but also positive people who can share their own experiences too. They might even have undergone the same situation with yours.

10. Make work exciting.

Tired of the same routine every day? Well, since no one can dictate on what you should do, then try to do something different with your work. Make it more exciting for you. You can set rewards for yourself or you can think of something to look forward to in every task. It is like one reading technique. You place a gummy bear on some parts of the page. Every time you reach that part, you will eat the gummy bear. So, you would be motivated to finish reading in order to eat all the gummies. Fun right? That is just an example. You can do something similar to that to make your work more exciting.

These ten things we have for you would help you to recuperate your passion for work. This can even make you more passionate. So, every time you feel like your passion scale is going down, try to do the tips we have above.

But Passion is Not Everything

Oh. It isn’t? Yes, it is not. Passion is not the only thing that you need for work. You actually need more than just passion. You need knowledge, skills, hard work and determination. So, since you have passion for design, make sure that you can be good at it. Develop yourself through practice and continuously learn each day. Learn through your own works and that of others. Always be open-minded to accept new learning and to correct your mistakes. This way, you can work as a designer and earn from it.

If you merely have passion for design but cannot DO design, then your passion is useless. We are certain you get our point here. You cannot just sit on a corner with a beaming face saying, “Design is my passion!” over and over again. The world would look at you and ask, “So what?”. Passion is not just about telling the world regarding your enthusiasm but it is SHOWING the world just that. So, if you have this passion, bring it to a higher level. Be an expert on it and be known for it.

Familiar? Yes, we have mentioned talent, skills, knowledge, expertise and experience in the What Passion Is Not part. Because these aren’t passion. These are what you need in order to put passion into ACTION. When you are able to put passion into action, you can do wonders. You can find innovative solutions to problems, improve projects, experiment on new techniques, work on conflicts and even create extremely unique outputs that would make the world say, “Wow! There is so much passion in his works!”

Now, try to assess yourself. Do you have passion in what you do? How does it affect your work performance? Have your experienced losing your passion for freelance?