I have been trying to figure out how it is possible that I often feel frustrated about my routine after deliberately transitioning to the career I’ve always wanted to pursue. I have a flexible schedule, work from home and can write about topics I am passionate about. But as each evening falls, guilt comes. “I could have written more today,” “That research took me longer than I expected,” “How come I spent thirty minutes only thinking about the right anecdote to start my story?”
As I now realize, there is much more to career shift than matching our skills and interests to a particular trade. And I’m not talking about developing a growth mindset but something more practical. To be happy (yes, happy. Not successful) in a new profession, people must shift their old expectations about productivity.
There is no official estimate of how many times people in the U.S. change careers in their lives, but recent data gathered by LinkedIn and Microsoft shows that 85% of the surveyed American workers plan to leave their jobs in 2025.
For those who have already transitioned to a new path, are happy about the shift but somewhat struggling to adapt, here are three ideas to successfully reassess your productivity and organizational mindset (especially if you come from a nine-to-five job to start as an entrepreneur or freelancer, as I did).
1. Learn how people in the field approach their tasks
One basic step in a career change is networking: meeting people with the job you want and asking about their routines and work.
Try to be as specific as possible when asking those questions. Be curious about the daily or weekly tasks people in the field perform besides working directly on their final product. That includes administrative tasks, hobbies and anything else relevant to the job.
For someone who wants to become a freelance journalist, for example, it’s helpful to know this kind of work includes keeping a list of ideas and updating it often, staying in touch with potential sources, reading the news, tracking expenses, browsing for ideas online or in person, thinking, posting on social media. Oh, and writing, of course.
Had I had this clarity of ideas when I started, I would have spared myself quite a few sad afternoons when I felt unproductive after “just” making calls, doing interviews or answering emails. Afternoons when I anticipated ending my day with nothing that felt tangible enough to be called “good work.”
Talking to others who experience the same or have been doing what you want to do for a longer time is the best way to become more realistic about how you need – or want – to spend your days.
2. Tailor your schedule to your goals
Once you figure out what kind of work you want to do and the practical “side” tasks you must perform to do it well, write a work schedule that helps you achieve your goals. Include non-negotiables that can help you work better (like reading, learning a language, networking), be realistic and flexible about the amount of time you need to spend on each task directly related to your work and leave “empty blocks” whenever you depend on other people to do your job.
When planning my week, I consider my deadlines and, when possible, designate a specific day to write each story. But I can’t set a fixed day for writing if I’m still waiting to hear from my primary source, for example. That’s why I need empty blocks.
If I fill my schedule without leaving any space for upcoming tasks like interviewing and writing, I’ll have to cancel things I wanted to do or carve out time in the evenings or early mornings, affecting my sleep schedule.
It took me a while, but now I understand I will not be writing all day and will not end every single day with a finished story. And because I depend on others to do my job, each day will be different. Some days I’ll work six hours. Others, 12. And that’s ok.
3. Beware the getting-things-off-your-plate mentality
“Never put off till to-morrow what you can do day after to-morrow just as well,” Mark Twain wrote in 1870.
That might sound like an invitation to procrastinate, but I prefer to read it as a warning against the tendency to create false urgencies. After years of working at law firms, I became fond of crossing things off to-do lists. But now, as a freelance journalist, sometimes the best thing I can do is to make time to think and let things settle before moving forward. As if I threw pieces of paper in the air and watched them fall before reading them.
Waiting for thoughts to unfold can be helpful for entrepreneurs hoping to make an important decision, writers trying to come up with an idea or angle for a piece and people who work with creativity in general.
Of course, constantly procrastinating can be detrimental to our productivity because it conditions our brains to seek compensation whenever we face challenges, especially if our procrastination involves scrolling on social media. But as with almost everything in life, it is possible to find a balance.
Working with order is more than predicting how to use our time and acting accordingly. It is about sensing what we need to work well in each moment. We can plan breaks, but sometimes, we read something and want to reflect on it for two minutes. Crossing our arms and reclining in our chair to think can be vital. Or going for a short walk around the block before the time we had set for our break.
Being flexible and intentional about the present moment is the key to avoiding guilt when working independently. If you ever need to get up and walk around your desk, do it.
