I quit my corporate job 5 years ago to start my own freelance business. At the time, I was working as a graphic designer at Wendy’s (the fast food company). The pay was good, the hours were manageable, and the people were great. Despite all that, I started to get the feeling that a traditional 9-5 was not for me.

I naturally work in bursts. I’m most productive when I hunker down for several hours at a time with no interruptions. Between these bursts of energy, I like to take quiet restorative breaks.

When I worked in an office, this wasn’t feasible. Between meetings and coworkers, I experienced constant interruptions and my only real break was at lunch (which wasn’t even really a break, since I’d spend my lunch running personal errands and rushing back to the office). Every day, I’d be disappointed with how little I accomplished. I’d feel totally drained. I had no energy to make art when I got home - something that’s extremely important to me. On the rare day that things slowed down at work, I hated that I had to make up stuff to do. I felt like I should be able to rest if I had nothing to do, and take the day off. To those of you who work in corporate, I probably sound crazy. To me, I became very resentful towards these weird rules, and became burnt out.

After four years at Wendy’s, I finally worked up the courage to quit my job. It was one of the bravest things I’ve ever done, considering how much importance our culture puts on career. It was a major identity shift. I didn’t know any freelancers. Not even anyone who was considering starting their own business. I had to figure it all out on my own. I think most people assumed I was becoming a stay at home dog mom :) That was an easier pill to swallow. It was uncharted territory but, for once, I was excited about what the future held. I finally felt like I was investing in myself instead of someone else’s vision.

Given how much I came to dislike corporate, you’d think working from home would have been easy. It wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong - for the first couple weeks, I felt like I was living on cloud 9. That was great! I was on a permanent vacation. Then, the reality began to set in. I realized freelancing was no walk in the park. I could suddenly see why so few people did this for a living.

Resenting the structure of corporate, I quickly went too far the other direction. I had no structure whatsoever. Some days, I’d have several productive hours and the rest of the day was spent being distracted by laundry, cleaning, and the home renovation we were undergoing. Other days, I wouldn’t take any breaks and I’d work around the clock. I had very scattered focus, and I was grasping at threads to find graphic design work. I was all over the place.

The one good thing that immediately came out of this transition was more balance in my personal life. The house was always clean, because I’d do chores all day on my less productive days. I felt great because I was eating super healthy making my own meals at home. I was better rested than I’d been in years - because I would sleep whenever I wanted. These were all great perks, but my work and mental health was suffering. I imagine some of you who are working from home right now due to Covid might know what I’m talking about.

I knew I needed to find the balance between structure and chaos. That was obvious. I just didn’t know how. Through a lot of trial and error, I was finally able to implement some rules that saved my business (and my sanity):

1. I started working my old 9-5 hours: I even started taking lunch breaks again, which became an anchor in my day. Anyone who starts their own business and is under the illusion that they can work whenever they want is sorely mistaken. In a client-centric business, you must work when the clients are working - especially when they can’t see you face-to-face. You need to be available when they are. Once I started doing this, my business took off. Even if you’re in a product-centric business, your shipping and customer service will depend on you working regular 9-5 hours.

2. I began shutting my office door at the end of the day: This goes with the 9-5 rule, and this little habit made all the difference. What no one tells you about owning your own business is that the work is never done. That feeling I had in corporate like I was never really accomplishing anything? Freelancing was ten times worse. No matter how busy I was, I always felt like I should be doing more - especially where marketing and self-promotion were concerned. In the same way I used to leave the office, I’d close my door and turn off my computer once my husband got home from his 9-5. It was a way of telling my brain that the work is done for the day.

3. I started treating freelancing as a long-term goal: When I first left my corporate job, I felt like I needed to prove myself immediately. Because most people reacted so bizarrely to my decision, I felt like I needed to be an immediate success to prove them wrong. I was working all the time and stressing myself out just to prove I wasn’t a failure. Not being able to keep this pace up, I was finally forced to slow down and chill out. I accepted that building a stable freelance business would probably take time. Eventually, I was a lot easier on myself. I didn’t constantly berate myself anymore. Honestly, it took at least a year to get my business off the ground. Several years to really soar. So for all of you who are new to freelancing, hang in there. It will probably take way longer than you think to see progress. Just save yourself the trouble, and be kind to yourself. Be patient and know you are investing in a long-term goal. As long as you show up every day, you will get there.

4. I got out of the house more: This one really saved me. I’d set up a nice little office for myself at home, and I had a tricked out new desktop. I felt like I needed to be in my awesome office to get things done. At first, I didn’t realize how tough the transition was from constantly socializing to having zero human contact all day. And I’m an introvert!! I started going to coffee shops and meeting friends for lunch. I found I was actually much more productive at coffee shops, especially when I had tasks I didn’t like that needed to get done - like invoicing or organizing files. I would say to myself, “I’m not leaving this shop until this task is done.” I started to feel like a more balanced human again. I know this is a weird time to be getting out, so for those of you who are adjusting to life at home - try working outside, or in a different room of the house. I do this all the time.

5. I got fully ready for my day: Hair, makeup, shower, check! This is something I did pretty early on, but I think it made a huge difference. I’m pretty sure I would have been severely depressed if I just rolled out of bed over to my computer every morning. Some days I felt a little dumb doing this, given that I didn’t see many people. However, it’s something I still do to this day. It changes the way you talk on phone calls, and it ensure you’re always ready for a client meeting. If you feel more put together, you will act like you have it together.

6. I took vacation and sick days: For the first couple months of freelancing, I never took vacation. I felt like I didn’t deserve it. By doing this, I was subconsciously telling myself that my own business wasn’t serious. I was acting like it was a hobby at best. Once I started taking days off, I felt like I was legit.

7. Have a rough plan for the day: And don’t be too ambitious! Something I’ve been doing lately is writing down 1-3 things every morning that I want to get done for the day. That ensures that I’m moving forward, even if it’s in baby steps. In my early freelance days, I would organize tasks by days. For instance, Friday would be my admin day. I’d do all my invoicing, organizing, and accounting then.

If I were to sum up these takeaways in a nice little bow, I’d say this:

Take your business as seriously as you would take someone else’s business.

That’s my golden rule. I really saw success when I started pretending like I worked in corporate again, but for myself. Vacation, lunch breaks, getting dressed up, and working regular hours are all the things I used to do that I thought I hated. It turns out this structure was actually good for me. I came to find that the part of corporate that I hated was merely the investing in someone else’s vision versus my own. Looking back, the real reason I left was so I could build something for my future - something I really believed in.

If you work at a company but are working from home right now due to Covid-19, you may be going a little crazy. This is totally normal, and I know where you are coming from. These same rules apply. I urge you to pretend you are in an office still. Give your day as much structure as you can, and you will start to feel so much better.