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When you work as a freelancer, especially in the design and writing field, keeping your inspiration vivid, active and fresh is hard work. You can always get bogged down with work, start panicking, and then lose all sense of inspiration and motivation in the process. Well, to save you from this catastrophe, we’ve put together this article titled ‘How To Stay Inspired And Refreshed As A Freelancer’.

1) Go out (and play)

It’s not a good idea to stress yourself out trying to think of a creative solution for a client. Creative work is much easier when you’re relaxed - that way it comes to you naturally and you usually produce better results. That is why you should NEVER sit there and try to rack out a creative idea when you’re stressed out and have a headache. Instead, grab your jacket and take a nice walk in the park. Assessing greenery and flowers is a great way of getting rid of stress and developing your understanding of art. Heck, it even helps you become more creative in the process (yes, it’s true!)

2) Browse others’ work

It may also be a good idea to find a couple websites that you can browse related work. For example, if you have a web design to crank out within the next couple hours, then browse round websites such as CSSmania. I do advise you though never to copy or take too much from another person’s design, it’s never good to imitate, instead learn from design techniques you like and figure out ways of making them better or manipulating them for the piece of work you’re trying to do. I have heard too many cases of copying others’ work, and it’s not good ethics as a freelancer to do that at all as it is very damaging to your reputation.

3) Go for a work-out

Weirdly enough, exercise helps you keep in a good state of mind and will even help in coming up with creative solutions in your freelance work. Exercise helps release certain chemicals and hormones in your body which make your brain more ‘active’. This could help when it comes to trying to come up with an artist/written piece of work.

4) Eat some (good) food

Your diet is extremely important to the functioning of your brain and lets face it, when you’re freelancing you need your brain at least half-awake. Never eat sugary snacks in excess, keep it down as much as possible. Sugary foods aren’t good because the release of energy occurs quickly and is not constant; that’s why you get a short “buzz” - instead try eating more balanced foods that have a mixture of carbohydrates, fats, proteins etc. When it comes to conducting your daily work, you’ll find it much easier and you’ll feel much better throughout the process.

5) Take some time out

Always, always, always take some time out in order to experiment and get better at your given skill. If you’re a freelance writer, try some short story writing (and be as creative as possible), or if you’re a freelance graphics designer make some professional business cards in Photoshop. Why you ask? Not only will this increase the level of your skill in that particular field, but by designing/writing/whatever purely for leisure purposes and not for clients you can be as creative and daring as possible - and this only encourages you to be more creative when the time comes for client work.

In conclusion, by working as a freelancer you chose to take the “workstyle” that gives you power to do what you like. Take advantage of this and make your schedule varied so that you can produce better results for your clients. After all, the better your work is, the more work you’ll get - it’s as simple as that.

What would you add to this list? Is there anything unique that you do which helps you stay fresh and creative as a freelancer? Do you have any suggestions for other freelancers out there? Let us know via the comments section below.

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