Escaping the 9-5 culture – your struggles are my struggles

Bali’s blue waves crashing onto the shore are some people’s computer desktops, whilst for others they happen to be the daily view they observe from their remote working stations. In an era in which influencers and digital nomads seem to be living their best lives, this won’t be another serie of posts aiming to motivate you to leave your corporate job to move with a laptop, a backpack and a metal straw and few items more to warmer places with a weaker wifi connection. I will not neither reveal you the key and secrets on how to get 200k followers on IG, become an influencer and make a living out of it (spoiler: I don’t know how to, if I knew I probably wouldn’t be here studying in a small-sized city in Central Switzerland). As a student and a freelance translator, community & social media manager, I’d rather try to shed some light on the vast world of the freelancing community, because there’s much more to know and to discover.

Having the opportunity of managing yourself, your time and your work may sound idyllic – and surely it’s not the worst thing in the world – but still there are quite a few pitfalls and not everyday is sunshine and rainbows.

If you managed to read up until this point and if you aren’t self-employed, you’re probably wondering why do you need to keep reading this. Luckily for you (but mostly for me), I have an answer to this question: while thinking about my own experience, I noticed that many of the difficulties I encountered during these years working on my own, are similar if not identical to the difficulties that I have as a student and that I used to have when I was working in an office:

Procrastination issues & lazyness

It doesn’t really matter if you’re working on your master’s thesis, on a boring translation or on a task that your boss assigned you. We’re almost all equal when it comes to procrastination and lazyness. Everything around us seems to be more interesting and appealing than the work we need to get done, even if we love our job or the subject we’re studying. It’s not always like that; but when THAT time comes, it’s a vicious cycle. Starting it’s simply not an option. I found myself in this situation during the past days, having to type these words. I really wanted to do it, but I just couldn’t. Has it ever happened to you? Let’s be honest, don’t lie.

Time management

Some people assume that once you start university, step into your first job or work as a freelancer, time management is not an issue anymore. Once you sign a contract or start your lectures you’re expected to know automatically how to manage your time and life. Well, that was not the case for me. It was (and it’s still) a lot of trial and errors. What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. And that’s the reason why I’m constantly on a hunt to find new and better time management tools that can keep me efficient and motivated.
Not an easy task, I must admit. 

Social media distractions

Raise your hand if you’ve ever got distracted by Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat while you were at work or in class. Well, we’re in this together! Social media have many positive features, but unfortunately, even for those who work with and through them, sometimes they have the ability of dragging you into an abyss from which it’s difficult to emerge. It’s not us, we’re not lacking self-control, it’s them.

Well, now you’re probably asking yourself how can you overcome these obstacles. The good news? I have tools, solutions and techniques that can help you deal with that. The bad news? I won’t reveal anything yet – you must wait for the next posts.

In the meantime, what are the daily struggles that you face at work or at university? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Photo by Michael Olsen on Unsplash