Freelancer Survival Skills with Sarah Townsend

FreelanceHER100 ambassador and mentor, and author of the book ‘Survival Skills for Freelancers’, Sarah Townsend talks about the Pomodoro technique, how freelancing has changed over the years, curbing perfection and how important community is over competition.

Graham and Sarah first talk about her 20 years of freelancing and what her freelancing journey has been like.

'I wanted to achieve that perfect sort of idyllic balance that we all think about when we think about going freelance, the flexibility and the freedom to kind of do the things you love, and also to get paid good money for doing the work that you enjoy. Working from home and maintaining a balance between running a freelance business and being a mom can be a challenge.'

Sarah covers the important topic of setting healthy boundaries and switching off.

'Anne Lamott said "almost everything will work again if you reboot it, including if you reset it, turn it off and on again", you know, that kind of concept. And it’s so true because we rarely think to do that with our brains. And we need to build in time to do the other things, the flow of activities that the things that you do - you lose track of time and you’re completely focused and mindful in the activity that you’re working on.'

Graham and Sarah also talk about how helpful the productivity hack called the “Pomodoro” technique is.

'I recommend every time you get your five-minute breaks, make sure you get up and away from your desk, have a bit of a shakeout.'

Sarah then talks about how curbing perfection can prevent procrastination.

'If you just actually realize that done is better than perfect. If you let the thing go, you know, when it’s good enough, it doesn’t have to be perfect and sometimes it’s just better to allow yourself the freedom to kind of put something out there that isn’t perfect.'

Sarah then ends the podcast by sharing her views about the importance of community over competition.

'That support that you can get from the people who do the same job as you can be just immense because they’ve been there and they’ve done it. And if they haven’t, and they’re new to the game, just think how much support you can give to them and you’re giving back to the community.'

You can find out more about Sarah on her website. Check out her book here: Survival Skills for Freelancers.

Graham Allcott is the founder of time management training company Think Productive.

This podcast is produced by Riz Paredes and is hosted by Podiant.

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