First freelance retrospective

Photo by Jane Palash on Unsplash

As we come to the end of the year, I’m doing a retrospective on my freelance business Creative Product Consulting. What worked well and what are my priorities to work on in 2019?

What worked?

• I did! Probably the biggest fear of any freelancer is being out of work for too long. I was pleased to get stuck into my first project, a brand new challenge working for a startup. I’ve learned a lot and now feel confident advising others on this way of working.
• The freedom to expand my horizons. I started with a view to working in UX and Product Development. I’ve also taken a magazine writing course, written a number of articles and a column. There has been enough flexibility to vary my schedule in order to be more creative.
• Integrating with teams. As I worked in my previous role for several years, I wondered how quickly I’d be able to integrate with new teams and build relationships. I’m happy to say it felt very natural and rewarding to collaborate with others in product, design and marketing roles.
• Work-Life balance. I’m aware of the risk of burnout these days so I monitored stress throughout the year and took steps to mitigate it. I took time out and recuperated, rather than giving in to the temptation to over-work. As ever, that’s a work in progress.