142: 5 Tips to Avoiding Burnout as a Freelancer

We are used to the term burnout as a nurse. At the bedside, we take on too many patients and too many tasks and get frustrated sometimes with coworkers patients’ families, or positions. In the freelance world, burnout looks a little different but not too much. As a freelancer, you may also take too much scurry towards deadlines and may become annoyed by clients. When we take on too much in our life, we always take from a different cup. Sometimes it cut this to our family, sometimes it’s our friends, and sometimes it can be asleep. That’s why in today’s episode, I’m going to be talking to you all about Freelancer self-care.

As a freelancer, you might feel like you’re scurried to get a deadline done, or maybe you’re getting annoyed with clients. Either way, when we take on too much in our lives, we’re taking from a different cup just to fulfill another cup. It’s always at the expense of ourselves.

If you’re feeling worn out or overwhelmed, it might be time to take some time off or adopt these tips for freelance self-care!

Identify your needs

Start to get to know yourself. You can even take a personality test. I really like the one called 16personalities.com. It takes about 12 minutes and really has results that relate to you.

As an introvert, I recharged by being alone, usually in nature. My husband, on the other hand, is a very active extrovert, and he really enjoys having company with friends around them when he’s trying to relax. That doesn’t mean I don’t frequently see family and friends, but it’s just not the way. My brain likes to react and relax. I also know when I am stressed. I need to do some sort of activity that involves nature. Sometimes walking, sometimes running.

I always feel better when I come back, and I feel refreshed and just ready to go. I’m also a person who likes to start and complete a project at the same time. If I’m cleaning out, I need to get that done, or I can’t relax. It’s always like an obsessive-compulsive thing. When it comes to my writing and stuff, I know where to take those breaks and where to batch it out.

I say you find out what your needs are. What do you need to do to relax – do you like people around you? Do you not? Would you rather be alone? Do you like nature? Do you like to exercise? What do you do to recharge?

Take time for yourself

You need to block out some time for yourself. Taking time for yourself needs to be something that you can fit into your day. It doesn’t need to be hours long, does not need to be expensive, but it’s something even as simple as reading a book alone or taking a shower is sometimes all you need. Take that time for yourself.

Take some rest periods

You need to take some rest periods to avoid burnout. You guys know, if you’ve listened to me for a while, one of the time management productivity hacks I love to use is the Pomodoro method. The Pomodoro method helps me keep focused on activities throughout the day. Take some vacation and just breathe.

Fuel up and eat well

Eat the right kinds of food. I thought when I started working from home that eating right would be natural. As a nurse for 20 years, I barely ate while at work because I would always go into the break room and sneak a treat here and there. Nowadays, I really had to think about the choices I make because food is readily available and I can eat it at my desk. I try to balance my macronutrients and eat clean as much as I can. I would say about 80% of the time I followed us in about 20% of the time I eat ice cream drink wine any candy.

Connect with others

Loneliness is very common for those who work from home. As human beings, we need people. Don’t you feel like the pandemic showed us this? I know there are those Memes out there for introverts saying it’s the best thing that ever happened to us was a pandemic so we could actually be alone, but think about what’s the worst punishment in prison, solitary confinement.

Loneliness is real and will affect everyone at some point. Sometimes taking a break to be alone is healthy but being secluded all the time is not. Some freelancers find that doing online networking helps them with loneliness. Personally, I like to schedule time with my Grandma to have lunch, with my homeschool mom friends to meet up with their kids, and to work in a library amongst people but maybe not with people.