Ask What do most freelancers underestimate about the amount of admin work involved?

[Brendan]

When people imagine freelancing, they mostly picture doing the actual skill-based work, like writing, designing, or coding, but there is a whole other layer of work that nobody really talks about enough. Sending invoices, following up on payments, replying to inquiries, updating contracts, tracking expenses, and managing project timelines all take real time and energy. For some freelancers, the admin side of things ends up eating several hours each week without them even noticing. It is one of those things that sneaks up on you after the first few months. How much time do you actually spend on admin tasks compared to the core work you were hired to do?