Doing a 180 and deciding to do something completely different with your life is by no means an easy thing to do. And it can get a lot harder. It’s been about five months since I started doing freelance or online work and I am still trying to find my groove. By groove I mean a somewhat steady schedule when it comes to doing and completing my jobs. I get distracted a lot so most of the time I end up working late at night or into the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes, it doesn’t bother me since I don’t really have to wake up early the next day anyway. But sometimes it’s not so good when I do need to be up early the next day.
going freelance series
Going Freelance, Part 4: Sources of Inspiration and Information
When I decided to take the leap and go for what I wanted to do, I started finding a lot of inspiration on the world wide web. I found myself hopping on to different blogs and websites of people who went through a similar experience and are now doing their own thing and helping others get on their own groove.
In this post, I’m just going to list down these awesome blogs and websites.
Going Freelance, Part 3: Withdrawing from oDesk and PayPal
Last visited: May 1, 2016. Please note that I am no longer on Upwork (formerly oDesk) so I can no longer comment on the process of withdrawing funds from Upwork. Best to visit the Upwork support/help page for new updates and information. Thanks!
Most of my online jobs have me working for international employers and I receive payment through oDesk or PayPal since these are the most viable methods of payment available for Philippine freelancers. Accessing my millions (hur hur) money in both accounts is no problem at all. It’s really easy to withdraw from oDesk and PayPal and transfer funds to my bank accounts here in the Philippines. In this post I’ll just do a quick run-through of the process of withdrawing funds from oDesk and PayPal.
Going Freelance, Part 2: Getting online jobs
I had a scheduled post for this topic, but for some reason, when I did a last minute check before it publishes, it looked exactly like the previous post in this series. Sooo weird. I have no idea what happened. Either it was a Blogger glitch or I copied my previous post here by mistake. The latter is highly unlikely because I remember previewing that post several times. Strike 1 for Blogger. Tsk tsk.
Anyway, on to getting online jobs. In this post, I will simply share how I found my jobs and maybe share a few tips I picked up along the way. :)
Going Freelance, Part 1: Jumping Ship
Decision-making is different for every individual. Some people can make a major decision in mere hours. For some people, it takes weeks, a couple of months, or half a year to decide on something important. Others take years of convincing themselves before choosing one path over another. It took me about a couple of years of “thinking about it” and “weighing my options” before finally deciding to quit. Quit my corporate job, that is. The decision to do freelance writing full-time came about five months after that.
When I decided to resign from my job, all I knew was that the job just wasn’t cutting it for me anymore. The work was good, the money enough, and the people were great, but I just couldn’t see myself doing it for the next few years. The job just wasn’t me. I resigned with the intent to find whatever it is that I wanted to do.
Going Freelance a.k.a. Operation Jump Series
Ever since I officially declared myself a freelancer (whips out pretend badge with “freelancer” scribbled on it), some friends have asked about what I do, where I get my jobs, how I get paid, and other related stuff. I decided to just create a blog series about these things because that would be the “cool” way to do it. I am a–wait for it–freelance writer, after all. Hah. No, seriously, I just thought it would be a great way to share my personal experience about going from corporate lackey (hur hur) to freelancer (head-thrown-back-kind-of-laughter).
Some of the topics I plan to ramble about in this series include:
- How I jumped ship threw myself overboard from the proverbial corporate ship and got on my own little row boat of freelancing (huh?)
- How I started getting jobs and where I get my jobs
- How I withdraw my millions earnings from oDesk and PayPal
- My sources of information and inspiration
- The personal challenges I made for myself to help me transition
- Other lessons and tips
The first post goes up in a couple of days and the next posts will be every other or every three days or something. We’ll see. Hah.
If there’s anything you would like me to cover in this series or if you have ideas or suggestions or if you just want to laugh at/with me, just post a comment below. Yay! :)