Mental Health for Freelancers

Prevent Chronic Stress and Burnout When Freelancing as Creative Writers

Here I offer seven proven and customizable steps to design a lifestyle fitting your writing career goals, bringing joy, creativity, and productivity

It is a world where our creativity runs wild, and our passion pays the bills. Yep, I am talking about freelancing. It’s that thrilling journey where we call the shots. But here’s the twist: freelancing isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. It’s like navigating a maze filled with unexpected twists and turns.

Imagine you’re on fire, writing like a boss with many lucrative clients, and suddenly boom. Stress explodes in your face like a firework. It’s like your writing flow gets interrupted, and you struggle in a swamp of deadlines and demands ruining your life. You don’t even want to get up in the mornings.

I’ve talked to many fellow freelancers battling chronic stress leading to depression, burnout, and even nervous breakdown. Trust me; it’s not fun. It’s like a fog that covers our imagination, draining our energy and leaving us feeling like a mess instead of a genius.

Some folks even had to say farewell to their writing dreams due to this nasty stress beast, and that’s not a story we want for you as a beginner. Now, let’s get nerdy — our old pal, cortisol.

When this stress hormone overstays its welcome, it can wreak havoc on our brains and mess with our bodies. It’s like our mind is stuck in constant crisis mode, constantly alerting our HBA axis. That’s no place for a writer to flourish.

Chronic stress isn’t just a writer’s enemy; it’s like a monster attacking our well-being. It’s the culprit behind a whole bunch of health problems, both mental and physical. Our bodies are designed to handle stress, but things can go wrong when it’s never-ending, leading to burnout.

Burnout is a broad and loose topic. Therefore, we first must understand its meaning and scope. My definition in this context is depleting our resources and not meeting our fundamental survival needs, leading to physical and mental health conditions.

Different people can define and describe it differently. My focus on burnout is from a health and well-being angle.

For example, even though people experience burnout in various aspects of their life caused by chronic stress, the World Health Organization (WHO) looks at it from the occupational perspective as a health diagnosis.

According to WHO, “Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

WHO characterizes burnout in three dimensions: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy.

This post isn’t just about doom and gloom. Far from it. It’s a joyful roadmap to superhero mode to uplift your spirit and empower you to proactively take ownership of your life, especially if you are a new freelancer.

I’ve got seven practical steps lined up to help you slay chronic stress, boost your writing mojo, and craft a professional life that’s as healthy and happy as a blockbuster story with no role for burnout.

Step 1 — Manage your priorities rather than time.

Time is the biggest stress maker. It never stops like a clock. Even though time management is praised as a skill, we can’t control time.

However, we can change and manage our priorities to save time. This difference is not just words but a life hack used by successful freelancers.

As a freelancer, managing our priorities decides our success. We choose our priorities and work hours as we report to ourselves, not to a boss.

Managing our priorities can significantly help us manage our stress. By focusing on our priorities, we can reduce our stress.

Many tasks are unimportant as they don’t help us reach our ultimate goals or are just distractions. Reducing distractions is necessary to save time, finish important ones on time, or meet deadlines.

Our priorities vary depending on our goals, lifestyle, abilities, and background. No one can set our priorities as it is a personal thing and choice. However, there are some tips for setting priorities.

I suggest three key questions to ask every morning. The answers to these questions can help us find our priorities daily. I helped my students to ask these questions and make them a habit.

For example, they write it on a sticky note and put it on a visible spot. Or some of them set a reminder on their devices showing every morning.

What do I want to achieve today?

What are the most important actions to help me achieve my goals today?

How do these selected goals help me realize my ultimate goal and destiny?

Finding and planning only critical goals can give us mental clarity and motivate us to complete them on time. Also, each completed task can give us a dopamine boost to start and finish the next activity in the plan.

As freelancer writers, we are self-employed, offering value to our clients. We need to do essential tasks first. Deliberate actions for essential tasks can heal our stress, anxiety, and fear. These timely actions can also rewire our brains for happiness and joy.

Step 2 — Understand the requirements and expectations of your clients.

Customer service is vital for freelancing. Remember, we don’t have a boss to pay us. Instead, we have customers who pay for our writing. This strategic view and mindset are crucial.

If we can find ways to please our customers, our money problems are naturally solved. The main customers for freelance writers are loyal readers who love our content.

Since loyal readers are key to our success, we must understand their needs and expectations for our writing. Once we know what our readers want from us, we can add those points to our priorities. So steps one and two are closely linked.

We can get the needs and expectations of our readers through feedback. It is up to us to build relationships with our customers and get constant feedback on our work. I regularly write to my customers about whether they are happy with my writing and ask how to improve it.

3 — Refrain from perfection and stay pragmatic.

Perfection is the deadliest cause of chronic stress. Freelancers and writers know the pain of this trap. Analysis paralysis is a horrible stress maker and one of the main sources of chronic stress.

We shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes. Ironically, this fear makes us more prone to errors. Our clients are human beings. They would understand if we slip up. Besides, we must embrace feedback and accept negative criticism for our growth.

Providing high-quality writing is important for our success. But this doesn’t mean we have to be perfect. Excellence is enough to meet this standard.

Getting 90% on a test shows our skill. Killing ourselves to get a 100 score is not worth the extra sweat. I sadly made that mistake which caused serious health issues for me.

4 — Make use of the therapeutic benefits of writing.

Writing is a skill for freelance writers to make money. But we are lucky to have this skill for other reasons too. While we write to earn cash, writing can also be used for therapeutic purposes.

We can make our work writing a therapeutic and healing tool. But not all of us write therapeutic pieces. Some of us write about boring topics that don’t give us much joy. For example, some writers write about technical, theoretical, economic, accounting, and scientific stuff.

But it is possible to turn technical writing into a fun activity by connecting with the readers. Focusing on the benefits our readers get from our writing is one way of doing this. This choice and related actions are up to our imagination.

If we can’t make our professional writing therapeutic, another option exists. It is expressive writing. This type of writing is a scientifically proven technique to help improve mental health, especially by reducing worries, anxiety, fear, and stress.

I use therapeutic writing as an addition to my professional writing. For example, if I write an hour about a serious technical matter, I take a ten-minute break and do expressive writing about a topic close to my heart.

Or if no topic comes to my mind, I simply write expressively about my thoughts and feelings at that moment, including the frustration of technical writing. This ten-minute activity recharges my batteries.

Also, I find ways to turn those therapeutic writings into income-generating activities. We call it repurposing content.

For example, most of my income-generating content relates to technical, scientific, and academic matters. But, I write books, essays, and stories about my personal transformation, generating income, bringing new clients, and even turning into lifelong friends.

5 — Nurture relationships and learn from others.

Let’s talk teamwork. In this freelancing adventure, it’s like we’re all in this together. So, we’re kind of like a squad, working side by side to make those dreams happen. A strong network is the magic sauce to sprinkle over our goals.

Remember that trust falls from team-building exercises. This time, it’s not about falling but rising together. Our network isn’t just a bunch of contacts — it’s our support system, our go-to crew when things get real.

Now, let’s cozy up to the idea of communities. These are like little havens where folks who share our dreams hang out. Picture it as a cozy cafe where everyone’s sipping on the same creative latte.

Writing and reading communities are like secret clubs that we can totally join — they’re all about boosting each other up and lending a hand when needed.

And here’s the secret ingredient — rituals. No, I am not talking about magic spells but little routines that can work wonders.

Being part of a community can actually make those stress levels take a chill pill. Oh, it’s totally okay to give out an S.O.S. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a smart move.

Collaboration isn’t just about tag-teaming on projects. It’s like diving into a treasure trove of experiences. We get to learn from the highs and lows of our comrades. Think of it as a knowledge exchange program where we get to sharpen our skills and gather new insights.

Let’s squash that rival idea. It’s not a writing showdown; it’s a collaboration carnival. Sure, we’re all running our writing races, but guess what? Sharing a finish line doesn’t mean we’re always in competition mode. Sometimes, rivals can turn into the best teammates.

The fear monster might whisper, “What about my commercial secrets?” Relax. Collaboration doesn’t mean giving away your secrets or handing out your VIP client list.

You’re not throwing your business playbook out the window. There are tons of ways to work together that don’t involve revealing your classified files.

Collaboration is like that secret sauce that makes our freelancing journey even more flavorful. It’s not about losing. It’s about gaining insights, knowledge, and a bunch of awesome pals along the way.

So, gear up, reach out, and let the collaboration party begin.

6 — Be your own best friend and therapist with self-compassion.

It is great to have many friends. Friendship is good for our mental health. But being our own best friend makes the biggest difference to our mental health.

Self-compassion and self-love do not mean being full of yourself. On the contrary, it is a genuine need for our survival and well-being. Besides, it can be hard to love others unless we accept and love ourselves.

With self-compassion, we can reduce unnecessary stress caused by others. It is okay not to be perfect. It is okay to fail sometimes. It is okay to feel down now and then.

If the body sends a pain signal, we must listen, acknowledge the pain, and understand the causes. Paying attention to pain signals is a way of self-compassion. These are not weaknesses. They are signals from the body and the brain for us to slow down.

We are biological beings who need downtime. The brain craves it. Downtime is not laziness but an essential stress management tool. Simple and non-work-related activities can be helpful brain boosters.

For example, we can take a nap, read a book, watch a movie, listen to music, play a game, meditate, or do some yoga. Meditation will make you more resilient against chronic stress.

These activities can help us relax, recharge, and refocus. They can also boost our mood, creativity, and productivity. So don’t feel guilty about taking some time for yourself. Be your own friend and therapist. You deserve it.

7 — Redesign your life to fit your writing career and orchestrate activities.

Here’s the grand finale to wrap up the previous steps. It’s time to put on our design caps and reshape our lives to give our writing dreams the ultimate spotlight.

Think of it as a real-life makeover for a blockbuster show — you’re the star, and your new lifestyle is the blockbuster hit. Here’s the deal.

We’re aiming for the Goldilocks of lifestyles — not too hot or cold, but just right. We aim to create a life that feels like a cozy blanket on a rainy day.

One where we can work in the flow state, that magical zone where writing feels like a breeze and stress is left knocking on the wrong door.

Imagine you’re zipping through your writing tasks, feeling like a literary superhero. What are your stress levels? Lower than a limbo champion at a beach party.

How’s that possible, you ask? When you’re in the flow state, stress has a hard time setting up camp. It’s like telling chronic stress, “Sorry, buddy, no vacancy here!”

The flow state changes the content of our consciousness at a specific time to an optimally functioning mental and physical performance. Thus, the flow state brings numerous health and well-being benefits by aligning our physical and mental energy.

Now, let’s get a bit crafty. I am talking about time Tetris, like re-arranging those meals, sleep, workouts, and chill time blocks. It’s like solving a puzzle where every piece fits just right.

You can customize your nutrition, exercise routine, and even your idea of a good time to match your new writing groove.

Let’s give it a snazzy name: Life Orchestration for Happiness. You’re the conductor of your own symphony, making the decisions that make your heart sing.

Who knows you better than you? Exactly, no one. And who cares about your well-being as much as you? Ding ding, it’s you again.

Let’s wrap this up with some golden nuggets of wisdom, shall we?

So here’s the secret sauce I came up with after 40 years of service.

Treat yourself like the superstar you are. Be your own hype squad, your personal cheerleader. Shower yourself with self-compassion, self-love, and oodles of self-care.

After all, you’re not just a writer — you’re a wordsmith on a mission to conquer the world and change lives, which calls for VIP treatment.

These takeaways are like little gems that can make a big difference without breaking a sweat. Trust me; it’s like life hacks for freelancers — minus the overcomplicated tech stuff.

1 — Managing priorities is like giving our workload a spa day, leaving us with more time to chill and less stress to deal with. Think of it as decluttering your to-do list — fewer tasks, more zen.

2 — Ever played mind-reading games? Well, understanding what our readers want is like that, but way less tricky. It’s like knowing the secret recipe to making your writing service the crowd’s favorite — less guesswork, less stress.

3 — When we let go of perfection pressure, it’s like taking a weight off our writing shoulders. It’s like telling fear and anxiety to take a vacation, leaving us with a stress-free, excellence-packed journey.

4 — Writing therapy, anyone? It’s like pressing the reset button for our minds. Let those words flow, and watch the stress flow away. So always choose to work in a flow state.

5 — Collaborating with others is like getting a whole bunch of brainstorming buddies. You’re like a superhero squad tackling stress together — fewer worries and more brainpower.

6 — Being our own best friend is like wrapping ourselves in a warm hug. It’s like a stress-busting potion made of love, kindness, and a sprinkle of awesome.

7 — Designing our life to fit our writing gig is like tailoring our favorite suit — it fits like a glove. When our lifestyle matches our goals, it’s like a productivity party — less effort, more magic.

These seven tips are like your freelancing stress-reduction toolkit, armed and ready to take on the challenge. It’s like your stress-busting arsenal, and it’s all yours to wield in these crazy times. So, customize them for your needs. You may also check my mental health kit to get more ideas.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

You may find more optimistic and empowering stories like these on EUPHORIA, where I share my insights and life lessons. My focus is on cellular, mitochondrial, metabolic, and mental health + JOY. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.

Disclaimer: My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness.

You are welcome to join my publications on Medium as a writer by sending a request via this link. 22K writers contribute to my publications.

You may check my thoughts on creative non-fiction writing. Do you want to write content to generate steady income? Do you want your stories to be boosted?