Living the Experiment: Yay or nay for being my own boss?🎢

This week marks a special milestone – I'm celebrating my sixth month of being self-employed as a UX designer and strategist 🥳 🤗

I treat this adventure as an experiment to be constantly evaluated. If you are familiar with the UX toolbox you may recognise my reasoning. If not, no worries – I still hope this will send some inspiration your way!

My hypothesis from the beginning was quite simple:

"I believe that the freedom of being self-employed will enhance my overall quality of life.”

Before we blindly high-five that idea, let’s break it down a little. As in any project, if it’s clear what we are talking about, it’s easier to evaluate. So what exactly does “quality of life” and “freedom” mean? And if we look into the the assumptions hidden in the hypothesis, are they true? For instance, does running my own business equal ultimate freedom?

Defining freedom and the good life

Well, this is heading towards the fluffier side of things. And as always when tackling big goals and distant dreams, it helps to break it down. My secret tool? Post it notes :) I started by dumping everything that came to mind onto my beloved colourful squares, then organized them into clusters and selected the ones that seemed most important.

Freedom to me clearly turns out to be divided into three categories; Choice, Money and Mindset.

Choice: The power to choose how and with whom to spend my time. Freedom is to be able to choose collaborations and partnerships where we support each other and everyone contributes equally to the flow of moving forward.

Money: On this topic, I’m all about “lagom”, the sweet spot. Enough to live well without financial stress monsters but no billionaire worries either, thank you. Blindly chasing “more” is not my thing.

Mindset: My no. 1 key to a free and calm mind is trust. Trusting that everything will work out, that my deliveries are good enough, that the people I reach out to are happy to hear from me. I guess another word for this is naive 😅

Quality of life to me boils down to time and space. Time and space to take care of my mental and physical well-being, to care for my dearest relationships, to make space for inspiration, passion and creativity. Also of course, time and space to use my skills to try and do some good in the world.

exploring my Assumptions - what is actually true?

When I wrote my hypothesis I made a few assumptions. Ideas that I thought where true at the time. 6 months into this adventure I have gained some insights.

Assumption 1: Self-employment equals freedom

YASS! I am free to choose my projects and reach out for heartwarming collaborations as I wish. But, there's a flip side: the uncertainty that comes with being on your own. Assignment cancelled last minute, slow-paying clients – it's all part of the equation. This is where the trust muscle comes in handy, reminding me to have faith in the bigger picture despite the messy moment. So far so good, but keeping that trust alive requires conscious effort.

Assumption 2: When I get to choose freely, I will use my time wisely

Well, I’m not quite there yet… I still need to find the right balance between “fun” and “funds”. Between my yoga job and my UX-job. Between holding space and being held.

Spring was my exploration phase, engaging in a variety of projects, resulting in a scattered calendar and at times quite a lot of stress. Moving ahead, I'm on a mission to zoom in on fewer projects. Picking the ones with highest potential to align with my impact goal – an enhanced quality of life. This is my hardest task, but having moved from Sweden to Portugal is a true gift. My calendar is light and I'm away from my regular context and everyday life. I will use this change for reflection and try to grow mindfully from here. Fingers crossed!

Assumption 3: I will enjoy being on my own

True. Surely I miss my old colleagues at times, but it seems that my network is strong enough to save my freedom from turning into miserable loneliness. One incredible thing about freelancing has been the warmth, support and helping hands of others. I've been invited to networks, people have passed on assignments, colleagues have generously shared their knowledge. New connections has formed, old relationships has deepened, making this ride feel less like a solo mission. Most of all I have a friend who is on a similar journey to support me all the way through.

So, what's the verdict?

Let’s evaluate the initial idea: “I believe that the freedom of being self employed will enhance my quality of life.” I would say, so far so good. During spring I had way too much on my plate, leaving little room for cherished family time and personal well-being. Now it’s the complete opposite, family-rich but project-light 😅 But with a little fine-tuning I still think this is the right path for me. Who knows what it will look like in 6 months, but I trust that it will work out just right.

So there we are, a little glimpse of how the UX toolbox has supported me on the journey of starting my own business. Let me know what you think! Worth reading or a complete waste of time? This post too, is an experiment to be evaluated.

Thank you for your time if you made it all the way to here!