Season
3
Episode
1
How to Make Your Work Fit Around Your Life - Not The Other Way Around
Season
3
Episode
1
How to Make Your Work Fit Around Your Life - Not The Other Way Around
Season
3
Episode
1
How to Make Your Work Fit Around Your Life - Not The Other Way Around
Elisabeth:
Hi, Freelancer!
Welcome to Season 3 of The Freelance Blueprint!
I’m your host, Lisi, a freelance UX designer and digital nomad. And today, it’s just me—no guest interview this time! (Cue cricket sounds)
I’ll tell you why in a second.If you’ve been following this podcast from the beginning, you’ll know I’m a big advocate for making work fit around your lifestyle, rather than the other way around. And while I absolutely love interviewing people and learning about their freelance journeys, managing podcast interviews on top of freelancing full time AND opening a coliving space in South East Asia has been a bit of a challenge. Finding times that work across different time zones, sometimes rescheduling the interviews —it's a lot. But don’t worry; those interviews will be back.
This podcast has been so much fun and the feedback I got from you has been amazing. The first spotify wrapped I got showed that the Freelance Blueprint was in the top 5 podcasts for some of you which means so much. So knowing that, even if ti’s just one person who actively listens, it’s worth doing this.
I love connecting with other freelancers, and hearing from you—when you share how an episode helped or resonated with you—is hsuch a nice feeling. So yes, I’ll bring back those interviews, but for this season, I’m experimenting with a few solo episodes.
Today, I want to focus on a topic that I think many freelancers forget about once they’re past the early stages and get busy freelancing.
Often, we get so overwhelmed with work that we lose track of why we started freelancing in the first place. This is a reminder for myself too—I recently realized I’ve been working way too much. Between freelancing full time, doing the podcast AND opening a co-living space in Sri Lanka, I put way too much on my plate.
I didn’t enjoy things as much as I used to because I was just thinking of all the htings on my to do list. My life started to revolve around work. Not the other way around. So something had to go. My And at the time, i decided it was time to pause the podcast to concentrate on the coliving. And it’s something any freelancer should do: Pause and reflect on your life balance. Do you live to work or do you work to live?
And a coliving project is SO different to a freelance project online. If this was a video game, freelancing feels like level 5 and opening a coliving - especially in Asia, feels like “Level 1000.” Things don’t go as planned—ever. and when they say something takes 2 days, it takes 2 weeks if it happens at all.
But this experience has shown me how important customer service is. Being a client in some cases, instead of the person providing the service, you see things from a new angle.
It’s the same for freelancing: You will stand out when - and most fellow UX Designers listening to this will know this - when you provide a great experience, a great service.
It’s not just about completing the task they hire you for, but delivering on time, communicating clearly, over communicating, building trust with clients so they know they can rely on you to finish the task on time. The quality of the work often isn’t as important as how their experience working with you is.
But let’s get back on topic for this episode:
The thing most freelancers forget after a while is that your career should fit around your life, not the other way around. That’s why i don’t like the term “work life balance” It should be be life-work balance but that sounds a little odd.
So, how can you achieve this? Here’s a simple exercise to help. You can do this exercise along with this podcast or you can take down notes and do it later. I’ll recap the steps towards the end of the episode. But here’s what you do:
First, you write down every task you do for your business, no matter how small: answering emails, deleting spam emails, setting up client calls, writing proposals, actually doing the client work, and so on and so on. So go ahead, press pause and write down all the tasks you do and then come back to this episode once you’re done. And don’t get distracted!
So once you’ve got your list, you go through it and identify what you genuinely enjoy doing and which tasks feels draining.
For example, I love getting an email with a new lead in my inbox, but I’m not such a fan of all the back-and-forth required to schedule a call with them. Or I love a good UX challenge, coming up with the user flows for a new app etc but I’ve set up so many component libraries in Figma, it feels exhausting to push pixels.
But others might enjoy those things, so what is exhausting for me, doesn’t mean it will be exhausting for you. Maybe you enjoy doign component libraries but you don’t enjoy creating user journeys. So highlight the stuff you like and then look at all the things you don’t enjoy doing.
Alright, now you’ve done that, look at the tasks you don’t enjoy. If you find yourself doing any of these repetitively, consider putting a system in place or outsourcing them.
What’s a system? It sounds complicated but it’s basically just a simple checklist for all the things you do over and over again. Or a simple routine. For example, as i mentioned before i don’t like the back and forth emailing for setting up a call with clients. So I set up a simple calendly link. I fyou don’t know what calendly is: where have you been? It basically syncs wiht your calendar, so anyone with your calendly link can book an appointment wiht you at a time slot that works for you. And no, this podcast isn’t sponsored by calendly but it’s such an amazing tool that’s easy to use and saved me a ton of time, so I’m going to recommend it.
There are also other tools you can use for free, for example, maybe you remember the podcast episode I had with Ben Ghallager, he’s the founder of Full Scope freelancer and that tool comes with it’s own version of calendly and you get so much more out of it than just a booking system. So if you want to try that one out, you can get an extended trial via my link int he description.
But back to the topic.
Basically, you need to set up systems for the things you don’t enjoy doing. Systems don’t need to be complicated—they just need to work consistently. And those systems can also be outsouricng the tasks.
Alright, you’ve looked at all you do, what of that you enjoy and what of those you can outsource or replace with a system.
So what’s next? It’s about adding fun to your work and eliminating things that aren’t as much fun. And for that, it’s important to set boundaries with your clients.
For example, I try to reserve calls for a specific day each week so I can focus on deep work the rest of the time. And I set these expectations with clients from the start. It might feel awkward, but it’s crucial to establish your own policies, especially with long-term clients who may forget that you're not an employee. Boundaries make sure your clients don’t cross a line and you don’t burn out. It makes your work life sustainable and helps you maintain the freedom that’s often the reason we freelance in the first place.
How do you set boundaries with your client? That’s a topic for the next episode.
So, how can you add more fun to your work? Add things that are rewarding. For example, reward yourself with a coworking session with your fellow freelance friends in your favourite coffeeshop.
Or if you finished a task that you’ve been pushing off, reward yourself with a walk or a massage or whatever it is you enjoy.
Don’t forget: your work fits around your life, not the other way around. You should enjoy your life, as from what I know, we only have this one life, so let’s milk it while we can. but to do that, we need money, which is another topic for another podcast.
On that note, here’s another reminder: time is more valuable than money. You can always make more money, but you can never get back your time. So prioritize your mental health, sleep, and well-being. You don’t want to wake up one day realising you spent all your life working for something you end up never being able to enjoy because you pushed off the fun parts for too long.
This is also something I constantly remind my coaching clients: make your work fit around your life, not the other way around.
So let’s sum it up - How do you create a work environment that fits around your life?:
Write down everything you do for work.
Highlight what you enjoy doing, and look at all the things you don’t enjoy doing.
Create systems for those tasks or outsource where you can.
Set boundaries to protect your time and energy and not slip back into making work take over your life.
And don’t forget to add some fun! Work remotely with friends at a coffee shop or change up your workspace to keep things enjoyable. After all, the beauty of freelancing is that you’re in control. You don’t have to ask a boss for permission to take time off—you’re the boss. So make it work for you.
That’s it for today! I’d love to know what you think of these type of episodes. Did you find it useful? Do you prefer interviews? DO you feel called out? If you’re listening on spotify, you can simply reply to this episode. If you’re watching this on Youtube, just comment below how you feel about this new format. But if you’re listening on apple or anywhere else, feel free to reach out ot me on instagram. it’s @elisabethmayr. I want to make this podcast as useful for you as possible, so your feedback is very valuable. That’s it from me, and I can’t wait to have you join again next week, where we’re going to talk about how to set boundaries with your clients! Thanks for listening! Bye!
Elisabeth:
Hi, Freelancer!
Welcome to Season 3 of The Freelance Blueprint!
I’m your host, Lisi, a freelance UX designer and digital nomad. And today, it’s just me—no guest interview this time! (Cue cricket sounds)
I’ll tell you why in a second.If you’ve been following this podcast from the beginning, you’ll know I’m a big advocate for making work fit around your lifestyle, rather than the other way around. And while I absolutely love interviewing people and learning about their freelance journeys, managing podcast interviews on top of freelancing full time AND opening a coliving space in South East Asia has been a bit of a challenge. Finding times that work across different time zones, sometimes rescheduling the interviews —it's a lot. But don’t worry; those interviews will be back.
This podcast has been so much fun and the feedback I got from you has been amazing. The first spotify wrapped I got showed that the Freelance Blueprint was in the top 5 podcasts for some of you which means so much. So knowing that, even if ti’s just one person who actively listens, it’s worth doing this.
I love connecting with other freelancers, and hearing from you—when you share how an episode helped or resonated with you—is hsuch a nice feeling. So yes, I’ll bring back those interviews, but for this season, I’m experimenting with a few solo episodes.
Today, I want to focus on a topic that I think many freelancers forget about once they’re past the early stages and get busy freelancing.
Often, we get so overwhelmed with work that we lose track of why we started freelancing in the first place. This is a reminder for myself too—I recently realized I’ve been working way too much. Between freelancing full time, doing the podcast AND opening a co-living space in Sri Lanka, I put way too much on my plate.
I didn’t enjoy things as much as I used to because I was just thinking of all the htings on my to do list. My life started to revolve around work. Not the other way around. So something had to go. My And at the time, i decided it was time to pause the podcast to concentrate on the coliving. And it’s something any freelancer should do: Pause and reflect on your life balance. Do you live to work or do you work to live?
And a coliving project is SO different to a freelance project online. If this was a video game, freelancing feels like level 5 and opening a coliving - especially in Asia, feels like “Level 1000.” Things don’t go as planned—ever. and when they say something takes 2 days, it takes 2 weeks if it happens at all.
But this experience has shown me how important customer service is. Being a client in some cases, instead of the person providing the service, you see things from a new angle.
It’s the same for freelancing: You will stand out when - and most fellow UX Designers listening to this will know this - when you provide a great experience, a great service.
It’s not just about completing the task they hire you for, but delivering on time, communicating clearly, over communicating, building trust with clients so they know they can rely on you to finish the task on time. The quality of the work often isn’t as important as how their experience working with you is.
But let’s get back on topic for this episode:
The thing most freelancers forget after a while is that your career should fit around your life, not the other way around. That’s why i don’t like the term “work life balance” It should be be life-work balance but that sounds a little odd.
So, how can you achieve this? Here’s a simple exercise to help. You can do this exercise along with this podcast or you can take down notes and do it later. I’ll recap the steps towards the end of the episode. But here’s what you do:
First, you write down every task you do for your business, no matter how small: answering emails, deleting spam emails, setting up client calls, writing proposals, actually doing the client work, and so on and so on. So go ahead, press pause and write down all the tasks you do and then come back to this episode once you’re done. And don’t get distracted!
So once you’ve got your list, you go through it and identify what you genuinely enjoy doing and which tasks feels draining.
For example, I love getting an email with a new lead in my inbox, but I’m not such a fan of all the back-and-forth required to schedule a call with them. Or I love a good UX challenge, coming up with the user flows for a new app etc but I’ve set up so many component libraries in Figma, it feels exhausting to push pixels.
But others might enjoy those things, so what is exhausting for me, doesn’t mean it will be exhausting for you. Maybe you enjoy doign component libraries but you don’t enjoy creating user journeys. So highlight the stuff you like and then look at all the things you don’t enjoy doing.
Alright, now you’ve done that, look at the tasks you don’t enjoy. If you find yourself doing any of these repetitively, consider putting a system in place or outsourcing them.
What’s a system? It sounds complicated but it’s basically just a simple checklist for all the things you do over and over again. Or a simple routine. For example, as i mentioned before i don’t like the back and forth emailing for setting up a call with clients. So I set up a simple calendly link. I fyou don’t know what calendly is: where have you been? It basically syncs wiht your calendar, so anyone with your calendly link can book an appointment wiht you at a time slot that works for you. And no, this podcast isn’t sponsored by calendly but it’s such an amazing tool that’s easy to use and saved me a ton of time, so I’m going to recommend it.
There are also other tools you can use for free, for example, maybe you remember the podcast episode I had with Ben Ghallager, he’s the founder of Full Scope freelancer and that tool comes with it’s own version of calendly and you get so much more out of it than just a booking system. So if you want to try that one out, you can get an extended trial via my link int he description.
But back to the topic.
Basically, you need to set up systems for the things you don’t enjoy doing. Systems don’t need to be complicated—they just need to work consistently. And those systems can also be outsouricng the tasks.
Alright, you’ve looked at all you do, what of that you enjoy and what of those you can outsource or replace with a system.
So what’s next? It’s about adding fun to your work and eliminating things that aren’t as much fun. And for that, it’s important to set boundaries with your clients.
For example, I try to reserve calls for a specific day each week so I can focus on deep work the rest of the time. And I set these expectations with clients from the start. It might feel awkward, but it’s crucial to establish your own policies, especially with long-term clients who may forget that you're not an employee. Boundaries make sure your clients don’t cross a line and you don’t burn out. It makes your work life sustainable and helps you maintain the freedom that’s often the reason we freelance in the first place.
How do you set boundaries with your client? That’s a topic for the next episode.
So, how can you add more fun to your work? Add things that are rewarding. For example, reward yourself with a coworking session with your fellow freelance friends in your favourite coffeeshop.
Or if you finished a task that you’ve been pushing off, reward yourself with a walk or a massage or whatever it is you enjoy.
Don’t forget: your work fits around your life, not the other way around. You should enjoy your life, as from what I know, we only have this one life, so let’s milk it while we can. but to do that, we need money, which is another topic for another podcast.
On that note, here’s another reminder: time is more valuable than money. You can always make more money, but you can never get back your time. So prioritize your mental health, sleep, and well-being. You don’t want to wake up one day realising you spent all your life working for something you end up never being able to enjoy because you pushed off the fun parts for too long.
This is also something I constantly remind my coaching clients: make your work fit around your life, not the other way around.
So let’s sum it up - How do you create a work environment that fits around your life?:
Write down everything you do for work.
Highlight what you enjoy doing, and look at all the things you don’t enjoy doing.
Create systems for those tasks or outsource where you can.
Set boundaries to protect your time and energy and not slip back into making work take over your life.
And don’t forget to add some fun! Work remotely with friends at a coffee shop or change up your workspace to keep things enjoyable. After all, the beauty of freelancing is that you’re in control. You don’t have to ask a boss for permission to take time off—you’re the boss. So make it work for you.
That’s it for today! I’d love to know what you think of these type of episodes. Did you find it useful? Do you prefer interviews? DO you feel called out? If you’re listening on spotify, you can simply reply to this episode. If you’re watching this on Youtube, just comment below how you feel about this new format. But if you’re listening on apple or anywhere else, feel free to reach out ot me on instagram. it’s @elisabethmayr. I want to make this podcast as useful for you as possible, so your feedback is very valuable. That’s it from me, and I can’t wait to have you join again next week, where we’re going to talk about how to set boundaries with your clients! Thanks for listening! Bye!
Elisabeth:
Hi, Freelancer!
Welcome to Season 3 of The Freelance Blueprint!
I’m your host, Lisi, a freelance UX designer and digital nomad. And today, it’s just me—no guest interview this time! (Cue cricket sounds)
I’ll tell you why in a second.If you’ve been following this podcast from the beginning, you’ll know I’m a big advocate for making work fit around your lifestyle, rather than the other way around. And while I absolutely love interviewing people and learning about their freelance journeys, managing podcast interviews on top of freelancing full time AND opening a coliving space in South East Asia has been a bit of a challenge. Finding times that work across different time zones, sometimes rescheduling the interviews —it's a lot. But don’t worry; those interviews will be back.
This podcast has been so much fun and the feedback I got from you has been amazing. The first spotify wrapped I got showed that the Freelance Blueprint was in the top 5 podcasts for some of you which means so much. So knowing that, even if ti’s just one person who actively listens, it’s worth doing this.
I love connecting with other freelancers, and hearing from you—when you share how an episode helped or resonated with you—is hsuch a nice feeling. So yes, I’ll bring back those interviews, but for this season, I’m experimenting with a few solo episodes.
Today, I want to focus on a topic that I think many freelancers forget about once they’re past the early stages and get busy freelancing.
Often, we get so overwhelmed with work that we lose track of why we started freelancing in the first place. This is a reminder for myself too—I recently realized I’ve been working way too much. Between freelancing full time, doing the podcast AND opening a co-living space in Sri Lanka, I put way too much on my plate.
I didn’t enjoy things as much as I used to because I was just thinking of all the htings on my to do list. My life started to revolve around work. Not the other way around. So something had to go. My And at the time, i decided it was time to pause the podcast to concentrate on the coliving. And it’s something any freelancer should do: Pause and reflect on your life balance. Do you live to work or do you work to live?
And a coliving project is SO different to a freelance project online. If this was a video game, freelancing feels like level 5 and opening a coliving - especially in Asia, feels like “Level 1000.” Things don’t go as planned—ever. and when they say something takes 2 days, it takes 2 weeks if it happens at all.
But this experience has shown me how important customer service is. Being a client in some cases, instead of the person providing the service, you see things from a new angle.
It’s the same for freelancing: You will stand out when - and most fellow UX Designers listening to this will know this - when you provide a great experience, a great service.
It’s not just about completing the task they hire you for, but delivering on time, communicating clearly, over communicating, building trust with clients so they know they can rely on you to finish the task on time. The quality of the work often isn’t as important as how their experience working with you is.
But let’s get back on topic for this episode:
The thing most freelancers forget after a while is that your career should fit around your life, not the other way around. That’s why i don’t like the term “work life balance” It should be be life-work balance but that sounds a little odd.
So, how can you achieve this? Here’s a simple exercise to help. You can do this exercise along with this podcast or you can take down notes and do it later. I’ll recap the steps towards the end of the episode. But here’s what you do:
First, you write down every task you do for your business, no matter how small: answering emails, deleting spam emails, setting up client calls, writing proposals, actually doing the client work, and so on and so on. So go ahead, press pause and write down all the tasks you do and then come back to this episode once you’re done. And don’t get distracted!
So once you’ve got your list, you go through it and identify what you genuinely enjoy doing and which tasks feels draining.
For example, I love getting an email with a new lead in my inbox, but I’m not such a fan of all the back-and-forth required to schedule a call with them. Or I love a good UX challenge, coming up with the user flows for a new app etc but I’ve set up so many component libraries in Figma, it feels exhausting to push pixels.
But others might enjoy those things, so what is exhausting for me, doesn’t mean it will be exhausting for you. Maybe you enjoy doign component libraries but you don’t enjoy creating user journeys. So highlight the stuff you like and then look at all the things you don’t enjoy doing.
Alright, now you’ve done that, look at the tasks you don’t enjoy. If you find yourself doing any of these repetitively, consider putting a system in place or outsourcing them.
What’s a system? It sounds complicated but it’s basically just a simple checklist for all the things you do over and over again. Or a simple routine. For example, as i mentioned before i don’t like the back and forth emailing for setting up a call with clients. So I set up a simple calendly link. I fyou don’t know what calendly is: where have you been? It basically syncs wiht your calendar, so anyone with your calendly link can book an appointment wiht you at a time slot that works for you. And no, this podcast isn’t sponsored by calendly but it’s such an amazing tool that’s easy to use and saved me a ton of time, so I’m going to recommend it.
There are also other tools you can use for free, for example, maybe you remember the podcast episode I had with Ben Ghallager, he’s the founder of Full Scope freelancer and that tool comes with it’s own version of calendly and you get so much more out of it than just a booking system. So if you want to try that one out, you can get an extended trial via my link int he description.
But back to the topic.
Basically, you need to set up systems for the things you don’t enjoy doing. Systems don’t need to be complicated—they just need to work consistently. And those systems can also be outsouricng the tasks.
Alright, you’ve looked at all you do, what of that you enjoy and what of those you can outsource or replace with a system.
So what’s next? It’s about adding fun to your work and eliminating things that aren’t as much fun. And for that, it’s important to set boundaries with your clients.
For example, I try to reserve calls for a specific day each week so I can focus on deep work the rest of the time. And I set these expectations with clients from the start. It might feel awkward, but it’s crucial to establish your own policies, especially with long-term clients who may forget that you're not an employee. Boundaries make sure your clients don’t cross a line and you don’t burn out. It makes your work life sustainable and helps you maintain the freedom that’s often the reason we freelance in the first place.
How do you set boundaries with your client? That’s a topic for the next episode.
So, how can you add more fun to your work? Add things that are rewarding. For example, reward yourself with a coworking session with your fellow freelance friends in your favourite coffeeshop.
Or if you finished a task that you’ve been pushing off, reward yourself with a walk or a massage or whatever it is you enjoy.
Don’t forget: your work fits around your life, not the other way around. You should enjoy your life, as from what I know, we only have this one life, so let’s milk it while we can. but to do that, we need money, which is another topic for another podcast.
On that note, here’s another reminder: time is more valuable than money. You can always make more money, but you can never get back your time. So prioritize your mental health, sleep, and well-being. You don’t want to wake up one day realising you spent all your life working for something you end up never being able to enjoy because you pushed off the fun parts for too long.
This is also something I constantly remind my coaching clients: make your work fit around your life, not the other way around.
So let’s sum it up - How do you create a work environment that fits around your life?:
Write down everything you do for work.
Highlight what you enjoy doing, and look at all the things you don’t enjoy doing.
Create systems for those tasks or outsource where you can.
Set boundaries to protect your time and energy and not slip back into making work take over your life.
And don’t forget to add some fun! Work remotely with friends at a coffee shop or change up your workspace to keep things enjoyable. After all, the beauty of freelancing is that you’re in control. You don’t have to ask a boss for permission to take time off—you’re the boss. So make it work for you.
That’s it for today! I’d love to know what you think of these type of episodes. Did you find it useful? Do you prefer interviews? DO you feel called out? If you’re listening on spotify, you can simply reply to this episode. If you’re watching this on Youtube, just comment below how you feel about this new format. But if you’re listening on apple or anywhere else, feel free to reach out ot me on instagram. it’s @elisabethmayr. I want to make this podcast as useful for you as possible, so your feedback is very valuable. That’s it from me, and I can’t wait to have you join again next week, where we’re going to talk about how to set boundaries with your clients! Thanks for listening! Bye!