May 18th- 24th marks Mental health awareness week in 2020. Asa freelancer, resilience is a key characteristic that marks us. However, we do still need a break sometimes. Setting boundaries as a freelancer is important and necessary for your mental health. Here are some tips I’ve gathered for this:
1. Setting Boundaries With Availability
It’s important to establish times when you are available to work or when you will be doing work. This will help your client get a better understanding of how you work and a more realistic idea of when they can expect a deadline to be met.
It also helps you as you can rest in times where you are not working and not feel like you constantly have to be working non-stop. Remember freelancing is meant to help you have a more flexible work/ life balance.
Understandably as a freelancer, your schedule may frequently change, so updating your client on your availability and when you are not available is important.
2. Manage Your Work Load
As your freelance career progresses, you’ll learn more about how much work you can manage and the amount of time it takes you to complete certain projects.
Once you know what you can manage, communicate this to your clients. Don’t take on more than you can manage to avoid disappointment on both sides.
Your mental health is important and putting yourself under unnecessary stress is avoidable. Your clients should respect you more for not taking on work if you can’t manage it, as it shows you’re not just doing it for the money.
3. Setting Boundaries Through Appointments
You’ll need to have briefs throughout working on a project. However, similar to the first point, it’s important to let your clients know when they can contact you.
Scheduling in an appointment for meetings will help avoid clients calling you randomly at any point and expecting you to pick up there and then.
I once had a client who would regularly phone me at hours like 11 pm and expect me to answer yet it was a struggle to get through during daylight hours. And when I did answer, it would often be a long meeting.
If you find it hard to find a time where you can both speak regularly, try to encourage messages or voice notes, then either party can reply when available.
Understandably, freelancing means being flexible to an extent. But remember your time is still valuable so creating an organised schedule for meetings can help better manage your work/ life balance.
4. Create a calendar
Google Calendar is a great facility to share your schedule with others and book in meetings, working slots etc.
You can also use it to book in times for downtime. You can set reminders on your phone that will alert you for things you’ve booked in your calendar.
5. Setting Boundaries With Communication
Throughout your process of working with freelancers, its important to maintain communication.
Make sure things are clear on both ends. It’s important that you have your free time and are able to create a manageable work / life balance as a freelancer.
Remember you are self-employed as a freelancer and therefore have more control over projects you work on.
So, don’t get trapped into the rat race of working solely for money and spending all your time on that. Make time to rest. If you don’t look after you, then how will you effectively carry out work for your clients?
6. Deadlines
Understandably, clients provide feedback for work, as they suggest, to help improve and get the work just as they’d like. However, feedback can be tedious if they take a long time to provide it.
If you provide them with a deadline, or suggested time, for them to get back to you, it puts more realistic time for them to work towards and it helps make you get a better understanding of managing your time.
Otherwise, you can end up in situations where clients send you feedback to perform last minute changes, and you have little time to complete it. When rushing, you can also make mistakes, which is not good for you or your client.
7. Honesty
Overall, honesty with your personal and professional boundaries from the start with your client, is the best way to create boundaries. That way, your clients have an understanding of what they can expect from you and know when and when not to approach you.
Happy Mental Health Awareness Week and take care of YOU!
If you’re looking for more self-care tips during quarantine, feel free to have a read of my skincare routine.
