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Dealing with the isolation that comes with freelancing and the magnificent, life-changing power of saying no. 

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Freelance FAQ: How do you deal with isolation when working from home?

It sucks. It really does. Getting over that hump takes a lot of work -- useful, doable work -- but work.

• Have an immediate support system of friends you can spend non-work time with
• Stop work immediately at a designated time (Kai's is 4:30pm)
• Only start work at a certain time (Kai's is 9:30am)
• Have 2-4 hobbies you’ve cultivated (I like road biking, hiking, weight lifting, and reading) so you can switch to something non-work if you have energy and it’s the evening
• Track how you’re feeling. Even just in a journal or a journal app like Day1, track how you’re feeling with the isolation and working from home. Mostly negatives? Mostly positives?
• If the isolation causes you issues -- it very well may -- then look into coworking spaces or sharing an office with an individual or a team to give you that social interaction.

Freelance FAQ: How do you say no?

• Practice.
• Realize that you saying no is not a rejection of the client’s idea, but you saying ‘there is a better way to do this.’
• Be comfortable with the uncomfortableness of saying no. It gets easier over time.
• Read ‘non-violent communication, a language of life.’
• Realize that if you don’t say no, you’ll be doing a lot of extra work without compensation; you owe it to yourself to say no.

And if a client pushes back? Either they have a legitimate reason and information you don’t have (good!) or they’re incorrect and a bad client who you should fire.

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Questions? Episode ideas?

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