Becoming self employed can both excite you and scare you at the same time. For thrill seekers and risk takers there is no greater joy. However, once the newness wears off and you begin to get into a new routine, panic can sometimes enter in.

We often find ourselves extremely busy. The day moves fast and we get discouraged at the little amount of work we were able to tackle on any given day. We love the fact that we have no boss to answer to. At least until we discover that our own bills become our boss.

All that being said, there is still nothing like creating something out of nothing, living your dreams, and obtaining freedom for you and your family. If your are self employed or thinking about becoming self employed, then consider these 5 simple tips to become more effective.

5 Simple Tips for Becoming Self Employed

Understand the different roles you must play – we all know that becoming self employed means that we will have to wear many hats. After all everything falls back on us. What we often do not realize is that we may need to schedule time for certain roles. For example, some people are extremely good at their craft, but they never spend time on their business. They do not spend time on profit margins or on how to improve their business. They are so busy working in their business, that they never work on it.

Set your open and close hours – I will be honest, if you do what you enjoy, this will always be a struggle. Work feels like play and you want to spend every waking hour doing it. After all, you have goals you are trying to reach. Hard work is admirable, but how many people have sacrificed their family, health, and commitments because of their work.

This is really hard to do when you work from home because work is just a few steps away. What I have started to do is at the end of the day. Shut off the lights and shut the door in my home office. I then focus on family time usually between 6-9 pm. After the kids are in bed, if I want to do a few odd end things, I use my iPad in the living room and bedroom, but nothing heavy.

Distinguish the difference between activity and taking real action – this is another awesome lesson for those becoming self employed. A big switch has to change in your thinking when you move from a salary job to a results job. I know that might sound funny, but trust me it is a big struggle with people are becoming self employed. As a self employed individual you must understand what actions propel you forward.

When no one is hovering over your shoulder, you have to dig deep to find ways to motivate yourself. This can be a real struggle for people. The easiest way out of this is to identify what actions are essential to accomplish each day. Once those are done, you can move onto doing other things. Just being busy won’t cut it.

Accept that you cannot do it all – self employed individuals are dreamers. They often never run out of ideas. Yet, we all have our limitations. The sooner we embrace this the better off we will be. I am not suggesting that you not be ambitious, just be realistic as well. Schedule to tackle that new idea after you finish whatever project you are currently focused on.

Enjoy the freedom that you have worked so hard for – there is no reason why you cannot begin to enjoy your new freedom at least at some level. Many of us feel so much pressure to produce that we forget what it is we wanted in the first place. Some of us need to take a step back and see that all we really did was create a job for ourselves. Find a way to enjoy your new freedom. Even if it is taking a 30 minute break in the mid-morning. You could exercise, go for a walk, read a book, take a nap or spend time with someone. Just find ways to enjoy your freedom without feeling guilty.

Becoming self employed does have it’s challenges, but if you embrace the tips above you can be more effective while enjoying more of your freedom.