{"id":167379,"date":"2022-01-06T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/?p=167379"},"modified":"2024-03-27T06:36:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T06:36:11","slug":"ways-avoid-burnout-freelancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/ways-avoid-burnout-freelancer","title":{"rendered":"Ways to Avoid Burnout as a Freelancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With over 15 years leading workplace mental health, Chartered Psychologist, Dr Jan Smith explains the steps you should be taking to ensure you don’t get burnt out as a freelancer as we head into 2022.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chances are you took some time off over the holiday period.\u00a0 The working pace slowed down; perhaps you were more boundaried, didn\u2019t check emails, and spent more time with family and friends.\u00a0 This is often the expectation over the holidays.\u00a0 However, while work might have slowed, visiting relatives, ensuring everyone has a good time, and navigating family dynamics might have increased.\u00a0 The threat of the coronavirus might also have been an additional unwanted strain.\u00a0 So, returning to work this new year, you might not be as rested as you would have liked.\u00a0 The flurry to plan work projects, ensure you have a steady work stream, and organise your workload might be a pressure you\u2019re grappling with currently.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, there are many advantages to working as a freelancer, like, flexible working, being involved in exciting projects, and not having to manage the unwanted dynamics that being an employee can bring.\u00a0 However, working independently can also bring challenges, like not always having a secure income stream and limited contact with colleagues.\u00a0 Therefore, it can feel an isolating and lonely place at times.\u00a0 There are no colleagues necessarily to check in how you\u2019re doing, pick up heavy workloads and dilute overwhelming feelings you sometimes have.\u00a0 So, this might elevate your risk of experiencing burnout.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is Burnout?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is more than just feeling tired.\u00a0 Instead, it is characterised by physical and emotional exhaustion, where your drive, enthusiasm, and motivation have diminished.\u00a0 You feel entirely worn out, which is probably experienced when you are at the higher end of the burnout scale.\u00a0 Feelings of burnout gradually develop over time, which creates opportunities for you to catch subtle signs that burnout might be developing.\u00a0 Some of these could be increased headaches, self-doubt, feelings of cynicism, and lack of motivation.\u00a0 These feelings can then affect your level of engagement with others and withdrawal from some of your responsibilities and commitments.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, feeling worn out emotionally and physically can negatively impact your mood because your mind will be telling you unhelpful things, like \u201cyou can\u2019t do this,\u201d<\/em> or \u201cyou\u2019ll never be a success.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 This compounds feelings of being physically and emotionally drained, which exacerbates burnout symptoms further.<\/p>\n

Regularly checking in with how you feel will help monitor these signs, particularly because they develop gradually.\u00a0 Having people around you who you trust that will provide feedback with any changes they notice in you will also be helpful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Preventing Burnout as a Freelancer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are many strategies to implement that can stifle the development of burnout further or prevent it from happening.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Establish Boundaries\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

This might sound relatively easy to do; however, it can be challenging to put into practice if you\u2019ve been working a similar way for a while.\u00a0 One of the most significant factors to burnout is not having a work-life balance.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t a goal to be attained; instead, it is always to prioritise, monitor, and evaluate its progression.\u00a0 Take a few moments, and either write down or imagine how you would like your working and home life to be.\u00a0 It might be not working evenings or weekends.\u00a0 If that is the goal, what needs to be in place to support you to achieve this.\u00a0 It might require structuring your day with an external prompt to indicate your working day is finished.\u00a0 It could be locking your laptop away somewhere not as easily accessed, or having separate work and personal phones.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Have Support<\/h3>\n

Isolation is often something that can go hand-in-hand as a freelancer.\u00a0 Being able to collaborate with others on projects, joining a business network that meets regularly, or scheduling regular time with like-minded colleagues, could significantly support your mental health and wellbeing.\u00a0 Also, if making changes feels difficult, consider who you have that can support you personally and professionally to implement them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Small Changes Add Up<\/h3>\n

\u201cIf you always do what you\u2019ve always done, you\u2019ll always get what you\u2019ve always got<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 If you want your life to be different, it necessitates doing something different.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t have to be radical changes because many small adjustments add up.\u00a0 It could be you have a lunch break, away from where you work, or if a task or meeting finishes earlier than expected, finish work and try not to fill this time with another job.\u00a0 Change is uncomfortable, start small, which will minimise the likelihood of you becoming overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Schedule Time-off<\/h3>\n

Have times that you have scheduled off throughout the year.\u00a0 Everyone is expected to have a break, and you are no different.\u00a0 Inform your clients in advance when you are planning to be away.\u00a0 Also, add additional time to projects to offer you flexibility and ease potential pressure on you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Working as a freelancer can be immensely fulfilling and enjoyable.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to come at the cost of your physical and psychological health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With over 15 years leading workplace mental health, Chartered Psychologist, Dr Jan Smith explains the steps you should be taking to ensure you don’t get burnt out as a freelancer as we head into 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26301,"featured_media":167382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11013],"tags":[2518,2697,11976,11977],"class_list":["post-167379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-burnout","tag-freelance","tag-rb-2022","tag-rb-jan"],"views":5361,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26301"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realbusiness.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}