There may be periods within freelance life where you’re busier than other times. However, even in those busy times, it’s still important to make sure you have things in place to help prevent you from burning out. As this never ends well. Here are some tips on how to avoid burnout as a freelancer.
1. Limit When You Will Stop Working
There was a period in my early freelance journey where I was working from as early as 9 am to 11 pm consistently for several projects. This was the worst time in my freelance career in terms of affecting my overall health. It was very laborious and it felt like a burden to continue the work. Which is the complete opposite of what freelance life should be about. There should be flexibility. From this experience, which the payment for one specific project didn’t equate near enough to how much I actually worked on it, I learned to be wise with future projects that I took on so that I can limit the time I am working overall.
A few months ago I did a 4-hour work per day challenge for 2 weeks and this also helped me to understand the benefit of putting restrictions for work. You actually can get a lot done in an allocated amount of time, compared to if you leave the whole workday open. It’s Parkinsons law- ”work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.
2. Take Breaks To Avoid Burnout
As humans, we need to recharge in order to perform at our best.
Tea or water breaks are important. You get them when you’re in an office environment, so make sure you do this when working from home too!
3. Time Slot
Time is super important. Every minute counts. So, slotting time blocks in your calendar for work and rest can help you better plan your day and ease the anxiety of feeling like you have so much to do in one day. I have found Google calendar so helpful and easy to do this, as it translates to all my devices. But you can use any type of calendar for this.
4. Communicate effectively with your client on realistic deadlines
As a freelancer, sometimes you may experience clients asking you to do short turn arounds. But it’s important that you discuss with your client realistic time frames of when you can get work done. The last thing you want to hand into your client is a piece of rushed work. It doesn’t benefit anyone. By communicating realistic deadlines, you can plan out the time you will have to recharge and work. If you rush to fit too much in at one time, it can lead you to burnout.
5. You Are What You Eat
What you consume can affect your energy. As a freelancer, you can be working at home most of the time, and therefore it may be easier to slip into snacking on unhealthy foods. We know this especially to be true since being in quarantine.
But, it’s important to monitor what type of foods you are eating as that will affect how you well you perform your work.
Without sounding too much like your parent, try to incorporate fruit and veg in your diet and drink plenty of water! Many people forget to hydrate when stuck in working mode, but you don’t want to dehydrate yourself! Your body needs fuel to keep going to prevent burnout.
6. Listen To Your Body To Avoid Burnout
Through getting into the freelance life, you will discover what times of the day you work best at.
For me, its the morning to early afternoon. Working late evenings or nights leave me feeling tired and rushed to finish off a piece before I end the day. Which is not the best mindset to be in when doing work, as it can lead to burnout.
Therefore, I create a schedule to work at times I perform my best. This is the great thing about freelancing, is that you can have this flexibility.
Discover what times you work best at and implement this into your working strategy.
7. Find A Hobby To Avoid Burnout
Finding time to do something that you enjoy doing that is active, but isn’t work can really help with your creativity.
It can be a way to recharge and further fuel you to do work when it comes round to it.
For example, I have found dancing a great way for me to focus on something I enjoy, that isn’t work related.
8. Connect With Freelance Friends
When you’re feeling overwhelmed, speaking to friends who know the freelance journey can really help take off some of the pressure.
It always helps to connect with people who understand what you’re going through.
Joining a Facebook group, like mine, gives you the opportunity to connect with freelance creatives, just like you!
9. Meditate
Taking time out to meditate can be a soothing therapeutic activity.
Abide is an app that guides you through meditation and uses Bible Scriptures for encouragement through the process.
10. Excersize To Avoid Burnout
Exercising helps both your physical and mental health!
Whether it’s a walk around your neighbourhood block or a gym session, exercising can help you to prevent burnout, when effectively scheduled and distributed.
11. Take A Nap
Getting some shut-eye is, of course, another effective way to switch off and prevent burnout.
A great thing about being a freelancer is that you have more flexibility over your time.
So, if you feel like you could do with a nap to recharge during the day, you can create a schedule that allows you to do that!
12. Take A Holiday To Avoid Burnout
So, during the pandemic times we are currently in, this is certainly more restricted.
But there are different ways you can take a vacation. It could be as simple as taking a weekend in your local hotel, in a different environment.
Or a weekend away somewhere else in the country.
Taking a vacation allows you to fully unplug and not think about work at all for a longer period of time.
Try to schedule out time where you take vacations to unplug from work and not just work remotely.
13. Find Your Niche
Choosing to specialise your freelance work in an area that you are passionate about, can help you avoid burnout as you will be working on something you love!
This is why I am a big advocate of finding your niche! It;s much easier to work on something you are passionate about, than something you are not.
14. Laugh Out Loud!
Laughter can really be medicine!
It can bring you joy and give you that extra boost of energy that you need for motivation.
Watching comedy-dramas or films that have this effect on you is a way to get you to LOL!
15. Listen To Podcasts To Avoid Burnout
If you can listen and work at the same time, podcasts can be such a gold mine to help you get through a heavy workload.
I created a list of best entrepreneur podcasts, which you can have a look at here.
16. Write Out A List Of Your Priorities
Perfectionism can be a killer and goes hand in hand with burnout.
Writing out a list of what is most important to complete to the least important can help manage your workload and not put too much pressure on yourself to get everything done at once. As that is what can often cause burnout.
17. Track Your Progress Daily
Celebrating your wins, no matter how small, helps you see the progress you are making on your projects.
Sometimes we can slip into a rut thinking we are not doing as well as our peers, or not getting anywhere with a project.
But tracking what you have completed, through a to-do checklist, for example, illustrates that you are actually getting things done.
Comparison is the thief of joy! Everyone works at their own pace.
I hope these tips on how to avoid burnout as a freelancer help you. If you are looking for more support on your freelance creative journey, you are welcome to join my Freelance Creative business-building community group on Facebook.
If you are a beginner freelancer, looking for a detailed strategy on how to grow your business, check out my E-course.
