When you find yourself with more free time than you’re use to, it’s easy to feel at a loss. Whether you’re in between jobs or unemployed, free time is actually something many people wish they had more of. We often don’t realise how lucky we are to have this window of opportunity to do whatever we want. Whether you want to utilise this time in order to make yourself stand out to employers or reconnect with yourself away from the strenuous 9 to 5 routine, here are 10 things you can do between jobs that will leave you feeling optimistic and ready for that new challenge.

Google 'how to freelance' and you'll find a list of articles on how to setup your company or ways to improve your freelance business. They're great. We write most of them; but there's not much out there on the emotional side of freelancing and what one needs to succeed from a psychological perspective. Do you have what it takes to be a successful freelancer? Take a look at the habits of a successful freelancer and see how many boxes you tick.

Running a freelance business comes with enough stresses as it is, so when the unexpected occurs that can affect the day to day running of your business, you need to be prepared. Whether you are a makeup artist, hair stylist, designer or photographer, you need your equipment to complete your job.   Imagine what your working day would look like if your entire make-up kit or Macbook Pro went missing? What would you do?

We bet that when you tell your friends that you're a freelancer they picture you waking up around 11am, checking email for an hour then hitting the cafe for a latte, right? Little do they realise who hard freelancers have to work to get ahead so we thought we'd show them. To put right the wrongs and show the world what freelancers actually do, we asked your help in our #MyFreelancerLife campaign and my word did you deliver.

Whether in life or in work, we often like to label ourselves. When someone asks 'what do you do?', we answer in a couple of words when really it would take hours to tell them the truth. Freelancers must be multi skilled in all manner of areas to run their business be it accounts, sales or customer service so why should our multitude of abilities stop there? We spoke with 3 versatile freelancers to ask 'can you afford to be just one thing in an ever evolving freelance economy?' 

    This Week’s inspirational creative freelancer is Celebrity Makeup Artist Charlie Green:   Welcome to our first edition of our Inspirational Freelancer Series;  where we will be selecting inspirational freelancers who we admire and who inspire The Freelancer Club members. We’ll be celebrating their work as well as reflecting on their career and paying homage to their achievements in our own creative way.

Freelancers and the self-employed form the vanguard of the British workforce, making up over 14% of the total employment figures for the country. The latest report from the Office for National Statistics shows the number of those claiming to be self-employed has increased by 146,000 in the past six months.

For many, freelancing is something extra done on the side of full or part time work and it can be difficult to balance the two, especially if there is very little cross-over. While it may seem the more work you have, the better, it is important not to over-commit yourself, as you could risk jeopardising the quality and integrity of the finished product.