5 Self-Care Tips For Freelancers

Running your own business is great, but your main business is still you.

When you’re on your game as a freelancer, there is nothing that can stop you.

When you’re feeling less than your game, your business can crash and burn with alarming speed.

That’s why you need to think less about the constant shuffle happening right now and more about taking care of yourself so that you can keep yourself and your business productive and profitable for years to come.

Burnout can happen quickly, and it sneaks up on you. Ask any seasoned freelancer. They’ve had to learn the hard way how it can adversely affect a thriving business.

The good news is that you don’t have to wait for burnout to happen to you. Five simple self-care tips can go a long way in making you and your business more sustainable and at the top of its game.

You’ve got nothing to lose.

Put aside time for people in your life

We’re social animals, like it or not. And some social connections are pretty meaningful. Don’t get so lost in your freelance hustle that you forget to get in some face time with your family and friends. That means putting the laptop away, or whatever your primary freelance tool is, and talk with your spouse, or your children, or parents, or roommates, or an old school chum.

Whoever you choose to make face time with, make it a priority. This will realign your brain a bit and pull you out of work mode. The result will be a more creative and engaged mindset when you go back to work, plus the added bonus of knowing people are out there.

Time with other people can be therapeutic. Take advantage of that. And time is not an endless commodity. It’d be a shame to waste it.

And while you’re taking some time to be with your loved ones, remember that you, yourself, count as a loved one. Step away from work from time to time to just be with yourself if that’s what will work best for you.

Get enough sleep

This is something many people find way too easy to forget or ignore. I know many freelancers, and it’s a little alarming at times how working around the clock has become some kind of fetishized ideal.

I place a lot of the blame for this with those Instagram hustle gurus who shame people for not working every waking moment to “build their wealth” or “build their brand.” Of course, if you end up burning out because you’re overworking yourself, then — boom — no more brand. No more worth.

Look, I get it. Running a business on your own can be hard work — especially during those early years as you’re putting together a dependable client list and reputation. The hustle seems nonstop if you want to keep the lights on.

But doing all of that takes energy, and energy is not limitless. We already talked about how scheduling time for yourself and time with your loved ones is necessary to avoid burnout. Scheduling sufficient time for sleep is equally as important. Maybe even more important.

You’ll be more productive if you get up an hour after the sun rises, nicely refreshed, than you will if you try to drag yourself out of bed two hours before dawn. You could work 12 hours of exhausted, sloppy, shoddy work, or you could enjoy eight hours of well-rested, refreshed, and quality work.

Seems like a no-brainer.

Sleep deprivation is not a badge of honor. You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone by denying yourself a natural need such as sleep. If you want accolades and better-paying clients, give yourself the rest you need so you can produce the best work possible.

Proper Food and Exercise

You really can’t get this piece of advice often enough. It’s a toss-up which freelancers suffer more from. Lack of proper sleep, or a lack of adequate nutrition and exercise. Like sleep, it’s easy to forget to eat properly and get some exercise from time to time. The danger with this, though, is that forgetting now and then eventually turns into forgetting quite often. Then, before you know it, nutrition and exercise are forgotten ghosts of the past.

Then you start to spiral into all sorts of health and energy issues that affect the quality of your work and productivity.

Fifteen or twenty minutes a day to take a walk around the block doesn’t seem like too much to ask, does it? Do it early in the morning, and you’ll get your blood pumping and your energy levels up to attack the day.

Choosing snacks that aren’t full of carbs and empty calories will sustain you when you need that energy the most. And drink plenty of water. Hydration counts.

Save the unhealthy snacks for the weekend or your next day off. Try to eat healthier on your workdays, and remember to move around from time to time. Your body and your work will thank you.

Indulge in a hobby

How often do you think about your work? Maybe a better question would be…

How often do you not think about your work?

Diversifying the focus of your attention is a useful tool to maintain your stamina in the freelance world. Time spent on an activity not related to your freelance gig, side hustle, or work from home situation is not time wasted. Instead, it’s an opportunity to strengthen your mind and your creativity.

If you can spend half an hour a day on a hobby, that’s good enough. If, perhaps, a couple of days a week you give a hobby or other interest even more time, then all the better.

I’m a fan of tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, and the like. Once a week, I take a couple of hours off in the evening and play with friends via Zoom. Most nights, before bed, I spend a little time with a graph paper notebook and sketch small maps of dungeons or haunted houses. Sometimes I’ll just sit with my collection of Tom Waits records on vinyl and just groove. (Hey, I’m not hipster trash. I’m in my 50s. I’ve earned this.)

However, none of these have very much to do with my work as a freelance writer and book designer. But they are relaxing, and they are engaging. They help keep me sane.

If you’re not sure what you could be doing each week as a way to take a mental and spiritual break from the daily grind, consider taking up reading for pleasure (no business books), painting (watercolors take up little space), learning an instrument (lots of videos on youtube to get you started), doing picture puzzles (my son’s latest obsession), or even backyard archery (hey, if you have space, why not?).

Put the work down for a little bit and go do something else. Your freelance tasks will still be there when you get back.

Treat yourself

You work hard. You deserve a reward.

Really, it’s as simple as that. After I finish a tedious project, I indulge in a celebratory pizza. Last year, I completed a particularly grueling project that included too many long nights and too many situations when I ended up ignoring much of the above advice.

I bought myself an aquarium set. It was on sale.

Your self-indulgence doesn’t even need to cost money. It could be something as simple as a day off. Or taking a morning or two to sleep in. Or spending extra time with your family.

A reward system — even a simple system — can bolster your spirits and keep you going even when things have been a bit of a grind lately.

Think long-term

Taking self-care into account isn’t a new idea, but it’s one often lost in the mad shuffle of the never-ending hustle of freelance life.

Just remember that you set the pace. You’re the boss. And like a good boss, you have to be able to think a year down the road.

Is the way you’re living right now sustainable? If not, how can you make things better?

You owe it to yourself and your clients to be just as functioning a year or two from now as you are today.

That starts and ends with self-care.

Cheers!

Thank you for reading. I’d love to share more with you via my Bi-Weekly Word Roundup newsletter sent to subscribers every other Sunday. It will feature news, productivity tips, life hacks, and links to top stories making the rounds on the Internet. You can unsubscribe at any time.