Today, we present Çağla Çağlar, an independent professional designer, became a part of the freelancer community first in Germany and now living as a freelancer working beyond borders for more than two years.Discover Çağla’s story and beneficial ideas for freelancers.
Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your work. How and why did you first start freelancing? I graduated from product design and soon noticed that I was interested in user experience design. During my last internship as a student, I applied for the Erasmus+ program and worked as a UX designer in Germany. During this internship, I worked from home some days, which was my first experience working remotely. After a few days, I realized that working from home is more efficient. I started to get some project-based freelance work on this internship. Now I have been working as a freelancer for about two years.Did a memorable incident steer your decision, and would you like to tell Ruulers about it?While I was living in Germany, I met with several freelancers. I decided to become a freelancer because I was very impressed by how they were able to improve themselves and their daily lifestyle. As I understand, a big part of being a freelancer is to be energetic and motivated.
How is your daily routine? Can you share it with us in a few bullet points?My daily routine generally depends on the intensity of my work. The only thing that doesn't change is the time I spend with my pets.One more critical piece of advice I can give for a freelancer is to have a pet. Spending time with them is like a break for me, and it lets me do my work more efficiently during the day.
- Wake up
- Walk with my dog
- Breakfast
- Reply to emails and go over my to-do list of the day
- Make a coffee
- Play with my cats
- Work
- Walk the dog again
- Dinner
- Work
Where is your best working corner at home? The sofa, the bed, or an isolated room?I generally work while lying on the grass in the garden. (If I'm working on something I should not focus on it) My first advice to someone who wants to be a freelancer is to set up your work environment, I think this is the most important thing. I stay away from that room for days and prefer to work on the sofa, but it makes me comfortable to know that there is an isolated place when I need to focus.Any songs/albums/artists/genres you prefer listening to as you work? How about as you chill? Does your playlist differ according to what you are doing?It depends on what I'm working on at that moment. I start the day with an alternative list, but if I am listening to an electronic playlist, the deadline is approaching.In three words, how do you reckon a professional freelancer should be?PatientSelf-motivatedDecisiveAre you a phone or e-mail person when it comes to communicating with clients?E-mailWould you still prefer video calls or meet people in person for work purposes if the pandemic was out of the picture?I would still prefer video calls.Are there any tools you find indispensable as you work on a freelance basis? Could you name some?Paper & pen (I know it's somewhat traditional) no tool could separate me from them.Do you have any suggestions for fresh freelancers? Can you shortly elaborate on what freelancers should do or avoid doing in their journey?- Market yourself across multiple platforms- Make a monthly budget and build an emergency fund- Don’t be shy when talking about money with clients- Track the time you spend working for various clients
