Most people cite one of the reasons for becoming a freelancer as a sense of going nowhere in their regular jobs.  Whether it’s a job that doesn’t offer advancement, or a mindless job that doesn’t offer much of employees, a job that you’re unhappy with can make you miserable.  Freelancing seems to be the perfect solution for that.  You do what you want, when you want, for whom you want, right?

Don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s impossible to get into a rut when you freelance.  It might not be as easy to stagnate as a freelancer than in that corporate cubicle job, but it can happen.  When you face new projects with little excitement, or find yourself, in the middle of projects, wishing a particular client wouldn’t call on you again, or even feeling like you hate certain projects, it might be that you’re stagnating as a freelancer.  What do you do? Stir things up a bit.

Prospect for new clients

Of course, you should be doing this anyway unless you’re guaranteed all the work you handle for some time.  But this time, go beyond your comfort zone a little.  Cold call that company you dreamed of working for but never tried before.  Bid on a project that’s different from the ones you typically do, to challenge yourself. Do something different.

Learn a new skill

Get a new piece of design software and learn how to use it.  If you’ve passed on jobs before because you weren’t familiar with a certain type of code or style sheet, take steps to learn that now so you’ll have more diversity in the future.  If you’ve only ever written web content, invest in learning how to write grants, press releases or ebooks so you can take on a larger variety of projects.

Take a break

You could be stagnating because you simply need a little more time away from the work.  Schedule yourself a short vacation in the near future, or loosen your daily schedule a little to allow for more downtime.  If your “office” is actually part of another room, like your bedroom, you’ve fallen into the work-from-home trap of making it seem like you’re at work 24 hours a day!  Consider setting up a separate office so that when you’re in bed or just relaxing in your private space, you’re not faced with the projects waiting to be done.