Dealing with the isolation that comes with freelancing and the magnificent, life-changing power of saying no.  Do you have a question of your own? Shoot us an email!  Want to support the show? Leave us a review on iTunes! -- Freelance FAQ: How do you deal with isolation when working from home? It sucks. It really does. Getting over that hump takes a lot of work -- useful, doable work -- but work. Have an immediate support system of friends you can spend non-work time with Stop work immediately at a designated time (Kai's is 4:30pm) Only start work at a certain time (Kai's is 9:30am) Have 2-4 hobbies you’ve cultivated (I like road biking, hiking, weight lifting, and reading) so you can switch to something non-work if you have energy and it’s the evening Track how you’re feeling. Even just in a journal or a journal app like Day1, track how you’re feeling with the isolation and working from home. Mostly negatives? Mostly positives? If the isolation causes you issues -- it very well may -- then look into coworking spaces or sharing an office with an individual or a team to give you that social interaction. Freelance FAQ: How do you say no? Practice. Realize that you saying no is not a rejection of the client’s idea, but you saying ‘there is a better way to do this.’ Be comfortable with the uncomfortableness of saying no. It gets easier over time. Read ‘non-violent communication, a language of life.’ Realize that if you don’t say no, you’ll be doing a lot of extra work without compensation; you owe it to yourself to say no. And if a client pushes back? Either they have a legitimate reason and information you don’t have (good!) or they’re incorrect and a bad client who you should fire. --  Questions? Episode ideas? Talk to Clients From Hell or Bryce Bladon on Twitter. Or shoot us an email!  Clients From Hell on iTunes | Soundcloud Subscribe on iTunes | Android | RS