It’s a constant balancing act as a freelancer. You’re generally open to all projects and love the variety but what happens when you land a long-term contract and the pressure to find other work recedes?

This is a position I’ve found myself in for the last year. A lovely position some have said to me and indeed it is. I’m thoroughly enjoying the work – the stability, the chance to really get my teeth into something, having a team again – but I’m always keeping an eye out for extra projects. And yes I’ve also been lucky enough to complete some exciting one-off projects during this time. 

But it’s made me question if I’ll always have this itchy feet syndrome now. Am I incapable of settling into one job? Would I struggle to conform to employment boundaries set by others? I have no intention of giving up freelancing for the foreseeable but sometimes it feels too good to be true. 

  • The ability to pick and choose what work I take on – tick
  • Flexibility to choose my own working hours – tick
  • Opportunities aplenty to meet all different people that I’d never encounter in one job – tick
  • Gaining a wider range of experience – tick
  • The ability to juggle being a working parent – tick

Don’t get me wrong, freelancing can be very up and down. It becomes almost an art form balancing the workload sometimes while keeping a beady eye on the weeks coming up where work looks scarce. 

Employers finally seem to be cottoning on to the concept of flexible working but I wonder how much of this is true in reality? From friends’ experiences, it’s often greatly exaggerated and their balancing act is taken to a whole new level. Long-term contracts may be deemed as creatively stifling by some but as a freelancer, when that contract comes along that enables you to still cherry pick the projects that take your fancy, you’d be a fool to turn it down. And as a working parent, there really does seem to be no better situation to be in.