As any form of self-employed professional, Contractor, Freelancer or Worker, you’ll be all too familiar with the term ‘freelancer blues’, or you’ll at least recall the feeling of anxiety and uncertainty that climbs over you during particular times of your working life.
It’s time to pull the blanket over these feelings and let these out in the open.
Loneliness doesn’t dodge Freelancers
Call it a career choice that’s a schism from conventional employment, or a successful, independent working model; loneliness still exists in freelancing. Working as a full-time employee traditionally means that you’re heading to a fixed workplace, working with a fixed team, abiding by a fixed routine.
Working as a freelancer typically means that you’re your own goal-setter, working impromptu (for some), detached from the social components that come with permanent employment. It usually means that there’s no lunch room where you can bump into colleagues, and there’s no coffee run to undertake in the hope to spark conversation.
If you’re a work-from-home IT contractor, you could be developing a website from the comforts of your own home, commonly communicating with your end client through email – or having no need to communicate at all, which then leaves you prone to feeling lonely.
If you step out of your own home, yes you can head to the gym, a café, or park – but where can you find a social setting that’s equivalent to the one that exists in full-time working?
Is co-working the remedy for loneliness?
The Huffington Post quoted Rahul Prakash, a partner at co-working space provider, Hatch Today, who said, “The word co-working won’t be a word in the future, it will probably just be the way we work.”
Co-working spaces have been designed to encourage social interaction in a casual setting, with the opportunity to rent-a-desk and use shared facilities, almost like a nomadic lifestyle.
Researchers, Melissa Gregg and Thomas Lodato, said that such workers are seeking “relief from the emotional demands of the corporate office,” hence the growing number of people renting such spaces.
As the number of self-employed rises, ‘workplace hubs’ as referred to by IPSE, or ‘co-working spaces’ should also see a rise in demand. As well as soothing the feeling of loneliness, such spaces act as ‘an incubator for start-ups’, encouraging ‘the self-employed touse these collaborative workspaces’. As the future welcomes this way of working, the self-employed will be able to enter a community, while overcoming the feeling of isolation.
As the future welcomes this way of working, the self-employed will be able to enter a community while overcoming the feeling of isolation.
At Gorilla Accounting,we offer anall-inclusive accountancypackage for Contractors and Freelancersfor just £85 plus vat per month.If you have any questions, get in touch with a member of our New Business Team by calling 0330 024 0406 or emailinfo@gorillaaccounting.com.
