7 Secrets to Why You are SO Busy But Not Getting Clients & Seeing Freelance Success [ Freelancing to Financial Freedom ]
Are you constantly busy with client work but still feeling underpaid, overwhelmed, and nowhere near the freedom you started freelancing for?
If your days are packed with endless tasks, reactive client requests, and nonstop hustle, yet your income and flexibility still don’t match your goals, this episode will help you uncover the hidden habits and corporate mindsets keeping you stuck in burnout mode instead of building a sustainable, profitable freelance business.
By the end of this episode you will learn:
How to identify the real reasons your workload feels overwhelming without producing better results.
Practical ways to reduce client chaos, set stronger boundaries, and create a business structure that gives you more control over your time.
How to charge more confidently, specialize strategically, and move away from hourly pricing so you can work less while earning more.
Play this episode now to uncover which of the 7 points is draining your time and learn the exact mindset shifts that can help you reclaim your schedule and increase your income.
Connect with Kiri, the host:
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Episode Transcript:
[00:00] Take a listen to this episode to find out seven secrets on why you're so busy but not getting clients and seeing the success you need to see. Welcome to the Freelance to Freedom Podcast. This podcast helps early freelancers learn how to get more clients with clear strategies that help your freelance business make more money in less time. I'm your host, Keiri Mohan, founder of Flourishing Freelancer.
[00:22] Let's dive in. By the end of this episode, you're going to find out seven secrets on why you're so busy, what you need to be changing in order to earn more income, and what corporate mindsets might be lingering that are actually a detriment on too long. By the end of this episode, you're going to find out seven secrets on why you're so busy, what you need to do in order to reduce
[00:55] the busyness, and the corporate mindsets that are keeping you stuck. I remember a time when I started out freelancing, and it was probably my, like, third year, and I was just so busy all the time. And there were multiple reasons for this. I do remember a point where I was just so stressed out. Right? Like, you know, my daughter was sick and I had
[01:19] to call my mom in to help because I just canceled too many calls. I'd pushed too many calls because of her sickness that was lingering and she couldn't go anywhere. Right? Because she had to be home with me. And then it was like, oh my god. Mom, can you please come over and help me out? I'm so stressed. I'm so stressed. And it kinda came to a
[01:38] point that day when I realized that I was really busy, but I didn't feel like I had enough clients to be really busy. And I didn't feel successful because to me, I wanted more flexibility, especially with my children, and to be able to call those shots and not worry so much. And that kind of shifted a lot for me. And and, of course, there are many moments that shifted so many things
[02:01] for me in my business. But this was something to me that felt very important. You can be really busy and doing so much and yet not making enough money or any money. So I distilled down over the past few weeks talking to other freelancers, learning about them, and also reviewing my own past with my business. What are these seven secrets to why you are so busy and not seeing the
[02:26] success that you need? What do you need me to call out for you on what you're doing? Number one, this was my issue and what I see with other people in my programs. You have too many small clients. Alright? So these small little clients are taking up a lot of your time and not paying you enough. So you're always busy, always trying to catch up, always trying
[02:45] to do what they ask, and you're just not getting paid enough. Right? Number two. This is a big one for me. Very big one. A lot of people who come from the corporate world, which I do, and I know quite a few of you do as well, you still have that corporate mindset that being busy means you're productive. Okay?
[03:06] And really what that's rooted in when you get down to it is like you're productive, and therefore you're needed. The more I can show how productive you are, then you're going to be more busy. And then you're proving to someone out there. And in your head, it's your clients. But really, it's just that mindset from corporate. Like, you're needed. They need me. They need to see what I'm doing, and therefore,
[03:29] they'll keep me. Most of the time, people who hire subcontractors understand that they're not gonna be working for them 20 fourseven or super responsive. So that's something you need to break to realize like, okay, I don't need to be this busy all the Like, I can take time off. And I have someone in my program who who worked every single day of the
[03:48] week for years. And she she got laid off last no. Year of 2024. She's been in my program since. And now she's having weekends off. She's learning how to completely unplug. She's learning how to go on vacation without taking all the work stuff with her. And I'm so proud of her. But this is a huge mindset shift that you need to shift.
[04:08] And you need to realize that like being busy and being productive doesn't necessarily mean you're needed. And you don't need to show people that. Right? So this could be a reason why you are so busy all the time. Number three is, you know what? You're probably afraid to play big and ask for more money. Because when you make more money and you can have less clients and
[04:29] less work, then you're gonna be in that sweet spot. Right? That's the sweet spot we want where you're not so busy and you're still making a good amount of money. That is super duper important. So there could be something going on here where similar to the corporate mindset, you're afraid to go big, and you're afraid to go and take the next step into
[04:49] asking for more money so that you can cut out clients. And then when the clients come to you, you can say, this is my price no matter what. And then you can hopefully sign someone else on that that rate and let go of those smaller, less important clients. This could be something going on with you. And I did struggle this for this with this for years.
[05:09] And it really took me hiring a business coach in 2018. So that was about five years into my business. I was at a plateau. I was busy all the time. I was stressed all the time. And he helped me unravel so much. And I think a lot of that really is I was afraid to play big. I was afraid of seeing and I've talked
[05:27] about this analogy before in my program, but like think about your favorite meal, right? Think about your favorite meal in a very rural town versus New York City or San Francisco or something like that. It can be the same meal. It can literally even taste the same sometimes. Probably not because the bigger cities are gonna have nicer chefs. But you wanna be that nicer meal.
[05:47] People are willing to pay for that nicer meal. So you need to play big and go for those nicer meals and be that New York City spaghetti carbonara, which is one of my favorite meals. Number four. Right now, you could be a generalist. You might not even know you're a generalist, but you're not specialized enough in what you do. So you're gonna keep getting clients who are just very not willing to
[06:09] pay a bunch of money because they just need someone who can generally do all these different things. And I fall into this trap too, actually, when I hire my subcontractors. Sometimes I get people who are very general, and I do that on purpose, but I know it's not going to accelerate me as fast further. So you need to find a client who want something very specific, and you know
[06:26] you can do something that's very specific. And the way you figure that out is like, what's really easy for you that you could do in your sleep? Believe it or not, there are people out there who hate doing that, who hate it with a passion. And that means it's gonna be your to your benefit to specialize in that and charge them a super duper amount of money.
[06:46] Number five, you might have reactive workdays. Right? That means you're responding instantly. And this kinda comes from a corporate mindset as well, and I'm gonna be doing an episode on this soon. It's just like everything is a reaction from you instead of stopping and slowing down and seeing that maybe you don't need to respond to it right away. So that reactive workday of just like, oh, the client needs this.
[07:07] The client needs that. The client needs this. The client needs that. Or I need to market here. I need to make sure I apply here. Oh, that job just came up. I need to do that. Like, all that is reactive, and that could be one of the reasons you're really, really busy and not making enough money. Because if you're always reactive and you're always
[07:23] rushing, you're not gonna have time to actually strategically plan your business to move forward, accept the right clients, raise your prices, whatever you need to do. Number six. This was a big one for me. Your contracts. A lot of people don't put their boundaries in their contracts. So then as a freelancer, they get walked all over and they have nothing to
[07:42] back them up when they say, no, I'm not gonna do this. Instead, they're just like, yeah, sure. Yeah, sure. Whatever. And there's so many boundaries that you need because you if you have nothing to enforce your flexibility, you're gonna work more than you need to. And having that contract that the client signs, your own contract, not their contract, your client contract, if they sign that, you can have something
[08:03] that goes back and says, this would be a rush fee. Or I said you can't get me assignments that are due within two hours cause that's gonna be a rush fee. Or I can decline doing this if I want to. Or when I go on vacation, you still have to pay me or something. Right? I don't know. I can unplug, but you still have to pay me.
[08:18] These are the kinds of things that you really need to consider in your contract so that you can basically have more punch to when you want to put up those boundaries and when you do say those boundaries. Because you can say, this is what my contract said. So it's really, really important. Finally, you guys need to come back to this. Hourly pricing. Hourly pricing limits you, and it limits you a lot
[08:42] because it means that you're gonna be, like, so, so busy and not making enough money because you're constantly tracking time all the time. So you need to be working in order to be making money. So if you can cut hourly from your pricing entirely, you're gonna be on the first step. That's only the first step, but it's gonna be the first step to working less and making more.
[09:03] So this is something that, like, I help my students all the time. It's actually one of the first things we go through is like, how much money do you wanna make? What are your offers? And let's see if we can make that into package pricing and how we're gonna market that so that you get what you want. And if you need help with that, I'm happy to jump on a
[09:18] call with you and discuss more in-depth. You can find the link in the show notes. Alright? Free call. No strings attached. So these are, to recap, the seven secrets that you could be missing out on and why you're not earning more and just staying so busy with nothing like pennies to show for it. Right? Even though we got rid of the pennies. One, too many small clients.
[09:39] Two, you have that corporate mindset that being productive means you're needed. Three, you're afraid to play big and ask for more money. Four, you might be a generalist, not specialized enough. Five, you have reactive workdays and you respond to things instantly. Six, your contracts don't have boundaries. And seven, you're stuck on hourly pricing. I hope that helps you all.
[09:58] Stay tuned for the tip of the week on Thursday, my short little thing you can think about so you can move your business forward faster. That's gonna be on what freelance clients really care about. What do they really care about? And it's not your pretty portfolio. It's something else. That's gonna be your tip of the week on Thursday.
[10:16] And then next week, I hinted at this today, we're gonna be going into those corporate mindsets you need to break in order to see success as a freelancer and get more clients. That is something that I love talking about, could talk about all the time. So please stay tuned for next week where you're gonna learn about that as well. Are you struggling to get the income you desire as a freelancer?
[10:36] Download my money mapper for a clear view of the earnings you need to achieve your dream salary. It calculates monthly income while factoring in taxes, expenses, and the best part is that it grows with your business to include contractors and a SEP IRA. Head to the link in my show notes to calculate what you should be earning to start increasing your income.
