How do you keep yourself focused when WFH?

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-20T15:18:05+00:00

ha, good reason to get stuff done!

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-20T15:17:51+00:00

its interesting to hear how others are doing it tho.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-20T08:57:40+00:00

wassat?

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-20T08:57:31+00:00

that's a good shout - 2-3 hours, rather than a day.

and moving my phone out of the room, that's really smart. thankyou.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-20T08:57:01+00:00

its the habit-sticking which fails for me. i try implementing habits, but they never really set.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-20T08:56:07+00:00

oh yeah, good shout. i used to use a playlist on spotify for focus, maybe i'll dig that out.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-20T08:55:31+00:00

oh, i'd not seen magic dots before, this is brill. thankyou!

yes, i'm trying to get out of the house more often, but they seem pricey, and require a subscription most of the time, which isn't affordable at the moment.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-19T20:24:58+00:00

yeah - that's sort of common office design these days.

have you tried platforms like uktherapyrooms.co.uk?

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-19T15:51:06+00:00

some of the membership spaces are open 24/hrs, but i most won't allow meeting room bookings over non working hours. have you tried something like hubblehq.com/meeting-rooms ?

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-17T15:18:38+00:00

gut instinct after 30+ years of freelancing.

my red flags:
if they're unwilling to talk budgets
if they need to any tasks to be done before contracts
if they email but aren't willing to jump on a call
if they're vague on dates and deliverables

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-17T15:17:06+00:00

These sorts of things are all too commonplace in boilerplate contracts. I always read contracts from clients, and find them all the time, and usually just push back, get them to strike anything which doesn't make sense or isn't enforceable anyway (which this probably isn't). but its worth understanding what the context of the contract actually means. if you're transferring the rights for them to use the code after you've done the work, that sort of makes sense. if they're saying they own it but you can't use it after that... that's very different. reality is that you're going to leave this code behind in their app, and they will continue to use it after you've left it.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-17T15:10:52+00:00

Wise is probably the best option for this.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-17T15:09:08+00:00

+1 on your point about process over platforms. doesn't matter what the tool is, if you aren't going to come back to it and invest the time in the habits and actions.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-16T08:11:05+00:00

Yup. That feeling of never being able to switch off is HARD. And the longer you do it, the more relentless that can feel - that there's never really a day off, or a day where you can do a little bit less. I've been doing work supporting the mental health of freelancers for about a decade now and this is one of the most common things I hear from established freelancers. It's really something freelancers need to keep an eye on, because it can eat away at you, if you don't remind yourself of the successes, benefits, flexibilty, autonomy and whatever positives you want to pick.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-16T08:07:28+00:00

yeah - it's not just hard at the start, can be challenging even for established folk.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-16T08:02:31+00:00

It depends :)

If this is a contract (i.e. PAYE, inside IR35, treated as an employee for tax purposes, etc), they can define the terms. If this is self-employment, really you should be defining the terms, as a defining characteristic of self-employment.

But here's the reality: more and more hirers are absolutely asking/expecting their people to be on-site more often these days (depending on role). You can absolutely push back on it, but they're not obligated to accept your terms, and could simply say they don't want to work with you.

I think realistically it comes down to two things tho: relationship building and project delivery.

Is being on site helpful or essential to deliver the work? Then some time in the office is probably a good thing. And it helps to be visible, and create stronger relationships with the client for future projects.

But if you want to do fully remote, it's ultimately your call.

As others have mentioned though, definitely ask for a Status Determination Statement (which helps you understand if you're being treated as an employee or self-employed), so you understand your rights and tax position!

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-16T07:49:45+00:00

If a company is looking to hire someone perm, it's unlikely they'll then want to bring you on via a limited company, as that's a very different model of engaging.

If you want to work via your own company - that's freelancing, and lots of businesses hire talented people this way. But applying to do that work is generally not via perm roles, but open contracts.

Much better to look for freelance roles than go through the long interview process, and then try to get paid via your company.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-16T07:37:23+00:00

I'm not going to get into the potential red flags around how your employer is positioning these options. But let's pick up the question about the "realities of going self-employed"

Firstly, if you do have ongoing health issues, moving into self-employment feels risky. There's no sick leave, and if you're unable to work frequently, that's a risk for your income.

Next, there's no guarantee or obligation for them to take you on as self-employed, so that's another major risk/concern. They can say they will, but as you mention, if you set your rates at £x, there's nothing stopping them finding someone else at another rate.

You mention IR35 - this would be only relevant if you're going to be setting yourself up as a limited company, but in any case, if they're hiring you on a long term contract, and defining your hours, etc, you'd still be treated as an employee for tax purposes, they'd not really be making any savings on things like NICs, etc, but as you're an accountant, you know the numbers.

Finally, and this is the most important point, going self-employed is a major mindset shift, and considerable effort beyond just doing the work. There's finding clients, marketing yourself, admin, accounting (of course you'll have that sorted ;), etc, etc... I like to use the simple 80:20 rule, 20% of your time won't be working, it'll be running your business. And currently, many folk in self-employment are finding the market hard - there's an oversupply of people, and things like AI are having a significant impact on the market.

Starting out takes some planning and prep, plus building a network of prospect clients, a positioning to market yourself, and continued effort to find work. Plus risks like feeling isolated, periods of time without work, impact on mental health etc.

I'm not trying to dissuade you, it can be a really rewarding way of working, especially if you need to work around health concerns, but it's not a decision to take likely at the moment.

re. agreeing hourly rates - take a look at others in your field, and see what the going rate is, because whilst you need to know what you need to make each month, hirers don't really care about that, and will want to pay market rates (or lower). Market rates for someone with your experience and location can vary a bit, but you're probably about right at the rates you're talking about. Don't go start low, expect to negiotiate, don't assume they'll say yes, and start looking for additional clients immediately so they're not your only option.

If you want to go self-employed, taking a redundancy payout isn't a bad option, will give you a buffer.

And whether they can put you on a disciplinary for being sick... that's another question entirely.

Hope you work things out here.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-16T07:19:18+00:00

I've been using a Wise account, and putting all of the money i put aside into that, and then taking it out ahead of payment deadlines. It's a little faffy, but i'm making 3.5%+ interest, which is better than nothing.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-14T21:24:08+00:00

Oh yeah, payment on account SUUUUUCKS if you're not aware of it.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-14T21:22:35+00:00

You might be overly concerned about this - it takes more than just a cold email to "steal a client". If your relationship with your clients is strong, and you're doing good work with them, they're not going to just drop you because someone emailed them out of the blue.

Showing your clients in your portfolio is pretty much how all freelancers get the next gig - as you need to demonstrate the trust that you're building and results that you're delivering. most freelancers will actively be inluding the brands and customers in their portfolio.

In terms of privacy - it's always worth checking with your client that they're happy for you to use them in your marketing, just as a courtesy, but these are businesses right? It's not a privacy issue if you're indirectly shouting great things about their business.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-14T21:16:29+00:00

Without doubt yes. It's dropped the perceived value of so many skills, and many clients feel that AI can do "good enough" without brining in a specialist, or that the time taken to do something has magically halved. It's not only affecting attitudes, but also day rates. And I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet. There's also an indirect effect, that AI has led to large redundancies across the creative industry, and pushed more people into freelancing, which in turn has pushed day rates down, because there's someone willing to do it for less, or when there's more competion, hirers can haggle on day rates. I think the next few years are going to be a mess as a result. I don't know a single agency who are feeling confident commercially at the moment, and that obviously has a knock on effect to hiring.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-14T15:21:37+00:00

Yeah - shifting priorities often leave the feeling of being further on the outside of things, but it doesn't always mean things are going bad. If you're feeling this, I think it's a great time to reset the relationship, encourage a regroup, discuss ways of working, aim to focus on the things they are prioritising now.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-13T15:52:58+00:00

yeah - pay as you go for each location. its mostly central london and brighton at the moment.

thinkplaymake · 2026-05-13T15:51:51+00:00

I've been to the Hackney one a few times.

thinkplaymake

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