How to ace the waiting game.
Updated: Jan 24, 2020
Hands up! Who's good at waiting? Ok, I guess not many people are. Of course, being mindful hasn't changed the fact that many of us still are not very good at waiting. Whether that's waiting for your coffee order, pizza delivery, to board a plane or train or....my new normal: waiting for new projects to roll in your inbox. Just over 6 months ago, I gave my notice after 6 years to embark on my freelance adventure. I hit the ground running and was loving it. Things were going well, I finished many nice projects for some very cool brands. But one thing that I wasn't prepared for, was the waiting game. The time in between projects; the limbo of freelancing life. Being super busy one day, and having no actual work to do on the other days.
Ace the game
Luckily, I found a way to ace at the waiting game. Here's how you can do that too.
First: I fill that time with working ón my business, instead of, ín my business. Working on your business is very important. It's not just taking care of your admin but also all other things that you do that are not part of the services you supply. This can be going to networking events, promoting your business on social, meeting with fellow freelancers or well, writing blog posts to improve your SEO (like the one you're reading now) or anything else you can think of that will promote your business or improve it.
Secondly: The other thing that I decided to do, was being active by doing something for me. As a working mother of 2 young school-going children, the list of to-do's is endless. Taking care of many of those to-do's helps in the family organisation. But making space for me to exercise is also good. Not just for me but also for the family, feeling more alive, refreshed and energized helps you to be a better parent for active kids. I've been doing Hatha & Vinyasa yoga twice a week and it has helped me tremendously. Not just for my body but also for the mind. So use the extra free time to work on you.
Thirdly: You might think to yourself, hold up, these two things are very common pieces of advice. Yes, you're absolutely right. But the best pieces of advice are always the ones that actually sound quite familiar.