If you leave the work force to become a freelancer/contractor, you’re blessed with the freedom of making your own hours and deciding to do only the work you deem to be worth doing. The downside is that your new boss — you — may be an unreasonable slave-driver or a rubber-spined pushover.

A guest post at Frugal Beautiful contends that it’s important for those who run their own businesses to keep rules in mind for coping with challenges that present themselves to the self-employed. Here are three rules for freelancers we gleaned from the post:

* Remember that you can’t demand a raise from yourself. If you’re making less than you did before, make sure your life reflects that and cut out the luxuries your desk job afforded you. Unless you happen to be a federal government, you can only subsist so long on deficit spending.

* Schedule in a social life. When the amount of work you do directly correlates to the amount of money you’ll rake in, there’s a temptation to spend all your waking hours grinding out work. If you force yourself to disconnect in order to socialize and enjoy your freedom, you’ll have an easier time enjoying your off hours.

* Be clear about your expectations. If you’re working harder than before but you’re not producing the results you want, you’re sure to end up unhappy. Clarify your short and long-term goals, work practices and policies in order to give yourself a structure to work with. Mapping out your plans is a good way to verify that they’re realistic.

Frugal Feature: How Can Quitting your Job Help You to Save More? [Frugal Beautiful]

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