Self Care for Freelancers
By Stephen Godfrey - Reading Time: 4 minutes
Self-Care for Freelancers
Too many freelancers are burnt out. We work too hard which leads to burnout. And when you hit burnout your quality of life goes down. Your happiness tanks, your energy is sucked dry, and you might even hate your life.
I’ve been there too. I did a big project for a FinTech company in Lehi, Utah that was rushed, high-stress, and took a lot of my energy. The money was good, but there were so many other stresses with the project that I found myself saying that it wasn’t worth it. In the end, I had to take a whole week off just to recoup and to get back on track.
And this kind of living is a problem. We are supposed to “work to live” and not the other way around. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when you should push through, get the project done, and sprint for a goal. But most of the time, for your day-in, day-out work schedule, it should be sustainable. Your freelancing/consulting should be something you can keep up for months without getting close to burn-out.
So how do you know if you are taking care of yourself? Or on the other hand, how do you know you are getting close to burnout? It can be hard to pin down, but these question can give you an idea of where you are at Just answer yes or no to these and any question that has a “yes” gets one point. Ready? Go:
A Self-Care Quiz
- Do take time off from working in your business to work on you business?
- In the past three months did you take any time off to relax?
- Do you do enough self care? This is subjective to your needs, but could mean enough exercise, meditation, long breaks, walks, microadventures, to be happy.
- Are you able to tell your clients “No” or “in a few days” so you can have the time to be well?
- Are you healthy?
- Do you like going to your office/working area? (if the very idea fills you with dread then that’s a sign you aren’t doing well).
- Can you put the computer away at the end of the day?
- Do you have other hobbies that are not on the computer that help you to move, be active, and that you enjoy?
- What is the airspeed-velocity of an unladen swallow? (answering “African” or “European” both count as yes (aka a Monty-Python freebie question))
- Are you happy at the end of the day?
For me, I just took this exercise and I scored a 5. Which helps me realize that I really need to take more time for self-care and to do the things that will help me to be well.
As a general guideline, I think that any score below 6 is a reason to reevaluate where you are at and where you want to go.
Action Steps
So what do when you already feel tired, worn out, and close to burnout?
The first thing is to stand up, right now, and walk away from the computer. Go take a few hours off or even the whole day. I just took a whole Friday off and it made a world of difference. I was able to make sourdough pancakes in the morning, go do yoga, get a few things done around the house, and make dinner. Best of all I wasn’t stressed and could finally breathe and relax.
Next, connect with people that you like spending time with. This could be going to lunch with a friend, a games night at someone’s house, camping together, going to an event, or anything to connect in a wholesome and positive manner. All it takes is a phone call and a bit of planning. And by connecting with other people you’ll have a chance to build relationships, find ways to help them, and have a little fun.
Third, take an objective look and see where your stress is coming from. For me, I realized that most of my stress was coming from a semi-toxic client that I needed to fire. So I set a hard and unyielding date, and said “as of the end of June I will officially let them go”. I haven’t told them yet, but I will once it gets closer to June. (I’d do it sooner, but I made a promise to see them through till their big event).
For me, I realized that working from home isn’t going to work anymore. For the past three years I’ve been working in a home office that is right next to the family room. And when the kids are at school everything is good. But when they aren’t it can be really hard to work at home. So to help me to be a better parent, and to take better care of my clients I’ll now be working outside of my house. I found a place that is a 4 minute bike ride from my home and it’s awesome. Far enough away to have my own space, but close enough to come home in case of an emergency.
Wrapping Up
What about you? What can you do to take better care of yourself? If you know what it is then just do it. Get it done. Make time to take care of you because you matter. You deserve to be taken care of, and no one else is going to do it for you. For me I needed to fire a client and get a new office. For you it will be something else. But it’s time for you to start taking care of you.
So what do you need? Think of what you need that will be the biggest boost to your happiness and peace and then go do that. If you do you’ll not only be a better freelancer, but you’ll be happier too. Remember: it’s “work to live”, not the other way around.
P.S You deserve to have better clients, higher-paying clients, and better projects. And I can help you get there. Join over 1000 people in my freelancing community, and learn how to make $10,000 a month through freelancing. -Stephen Godfrey
About
Stephen is a fulltime consultant who builds websites for Banks, Lending Firms, and FinTech companies. He specializes in building ultra-secure websites which are ADA accessible, lightning-fast, and that help bring in more users. You can learn more about what he does at mountainfreshmedia.com.
Stephen Godfrey lecturing at BRAID in Provo in the Startup Building