Freelance work or being self-employed comes with promises of more flexibility and freedom when it comes to your work. You can support yourself without answering to another person, right?
Well, kind of. But this extra freedom comes with some hidden chains. Many self-employed people find themselves struggling with burnout, so they feel less motivated and less able to work productively. This can hit your earnings and your ability to support yourself and your business.
So, how can you manage your burnout as a self-employed person?
The Challenges of Being Self-Employed
Being self-employed isn’t for the faint of heart. While you have more flexibility, you also have a lot more responsibilities and no safety net.
You don’t just do your job. You also have to manage the ins and outs of your business. This includes all of the admin work, making sales, delivering your products or services, and then starting all over again as you find more clients and so on. You also don’t get paid sick leave or holidays, so if you don’t work, you don’t get paid.
It can be really hard to properly switch yourself on or off from your work mode. This is especially true if you work from home, because your workplace is right there. So you can’t just stop working and relax; it’s always hanging over your head.
The added risk of being self-employed is another source of stress, because if your business fails, you’re out of work and out of cash. Even if you have another job to support yourself, you then pile on more work.
Managing Your Work-Life Balance
One of the most important things you need to master if you’re self-employed is how to control your work-life balance.
If you don’t have a work-life balance, you have a problem. You risk pushing yourself too far and potentially burning yourself out, which is something we’ll look at a bit later, or you potentially risk not doing enough with your work and letting it fizz out.
The best way to manage your work-life balance is to make a schedule. When you’re employed, you typically have working hours. These might be the classic 9-5 (or 8-5.30 in some cases), or you might do different shifts in your job. The same should apply when you’re self-employed.
Even if you don’t need to work during the normal working hours, you should still have a schedule set up so you know when you need to work and when you need to get involved with the rest of your life. Your schedule can be as flexible as you need it to be, as well.
You might work in the evening one day, and the morning the next day. The important thing is that you know when you’re working and when you’re not. This also allows you to prioritize certain jobs according to your deadlines and be more organized while you work.
Self-Care and Burnout
So, let’s talk about burnout. Burnout is basically when you’re past the point of physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion. While it’s more common among people with extremely stressful and physical jobs or caregivers, anyone can get burned out, especially if you work long hours.
So if you regularly keep working well into the night, even if you love your business and love what you do, you risk burning yourself out. This means that you take yourself to the point where you can’t really work anymore. It becomes impossible to be motivated, and you might end up losing clients because you’ve stretched yourself too thin.
One way to prevent burnout is through self-care. Self-care involves, well, caring for yourself. You put your needs before your workload or other responsibilities. This doesn’t mean you always do what you want, no matter what, but you keep an eye on yourself and your levels of exhaustion.
More importantly, you take breaks. You go on vacations, you treat yourself to an evening off or a spa day, or you work out for an hour. All of this keeps your body and mind energized enough to allow you not just to function, but to thrive and enjoy life.
How Breaks Can Help
Breaks are a part of your self-care routine. Interestingly, breaks can also make you more productive because they stop you from getting too exhausted to think clearly while you work. They also make it easier to stay motivated and push forward to reach the next goal.
But how often should you take breaks, and how can you make sure your breaks are actually useful?
Scheduling Your Breaks
Depending on your work schedule, it’s also a good idea to schedule in breaks. This allows you to stay focused on your work when you’re not on your break and also makes sure that you don’t end up skipping breaks and getting overtired.
There are a few ways to schedule your breaks. If you’re working in short blocks anyway, you can just schedule these blocks and take your breaks when you’re not working. Otherwise, you can use a timer to make sure you work for about 45 minutes or so, and then take your breaks.
Generally, a few short breaks are good for a few hours of work, and then you should also schedule longer breaks and a lunch break in your workday.
What to Do During Your Breaks
But what should you spend your break doing? Here’s a clue: if you spend your workday staring at a screen, try to mix it up. Look away from your screen for at least a minute or two. Get up and stretch your legs.
Go for a short walk on longer breaks or even add a short stretching routine. This keeps your body healthy and prevents you from feeling stiff. You can also play games like sudoku to keep your mind active, but without thinking too much about work. This can actually help you come up with new ideas when you get back to work, because your brain keeps working on the problem in the background.
