I was around 24, having a conflict at work, a 6-year relationship ended, and a father dying. It was enough to push me over the edge into what most would call a burn-out. I lost 20kg of body weight and was nothing more than a shadow of the person I used to be. For at least 6 months I wasn’t able to do anything slightly productive.
After that, I decided to become self-employed, started to find clients and slowly built the sole entrepreneurship I’m still running until today, 15 years later.
During those 15 years, I had my ups and downs. Ranging from having too much work and too little time to see most of my income evaporate (which is right now, because of this Corona thingy).
During the downs here are the things I do to prevent myself from sinking down that black hole I was in at age 24:
Accept, don’t fight
Whenever I feel down, low on energy or have a lack of motivation I’ll just let it be and experience the negative emotions. I’ll turn off my mobile & laptop and sleep, take a walk or binge Netflix. Customers might call, send text messages or apps, but I try not to think of that.
Don’t feel guilty
As an employee, you have the luxury of calling yourself in sick. Being self-employed you have the tendency to put your clients first and will go above and beyond to please them. Well, newsflash, also you as a self-employed person can call in sick. Tell your boss (yourself) you need a few days off. Put an autoresponse on your email and change your voicemail, notifying people trying to reach you that you’re unavailable for the next 2–3–4 days and most important; don’t feel guilty about it!
Weekends don’t have to be at the end of the week
I can’t think of any self-employed person I know who doesn’t work on weekends, even if it’s doing your taxes or answering some emails. Make sure that at least 1 day a week you don’t touch your laptop or phone and do things that give you energy. It doesn’t matter if it means you spend a day in your garden, get wasted at the pub with friends, binge watch a series on Netflix… Just make sure you take your ‘me time’!
Don’t do work you don’t want to do
My main motivation to become self-employed was the freedom it would give me. Though at some point I found myself working for the same client for many years, for a great rate, but on a project, I slowly started to hate. At one point this client was responsible for 75% of my income. It took me a lot of courage to say goodbye to this client and confronted me with a mountain of insecurity and doubts. But listening to my heart and reminding myself I started this business because I wanted freedom I knew it was the only right thing to do.
Take your holidays
One of the most awesome aspects of being self-employed is that in theory you have an infinite number of off days. USE THEM! I work mostly online, so my holidays are usually working-holidays, where I spend half of the time doing work and the other half enjoying my offtime. But even if your work if ‘offline’, you can and should take your holidays!
Know where to draw the line
As an example; during my last working-holiday one client was throwing massive amounts of works at me, with deadlines set right at the time I would be residing on some tropical island without decent internet. Don’t be afraid to tell your clients they are asking too much of you. Even you, as a super-freelancer, are only human and also need your time off to recharge your battery.
The same goes for taking on too many projects… I might seem lucrative if you get the chance to work on 3–4 big projects at the same time, but in the end, it will most probably cause you a lot of stress, 14-hour workdays and sub-optimal results. Know your limits and guard them!
Don’t work from home 24/7
For many employees it might sound like heaven; working from home all day long. For a self-employed freelancer it will drive you crazy! Don’t underestimate the value of ‘office gossip’ or just simply working with other people around you, having a chat every here and there. Make sure to spend time working out of the house! Many cities have plenty of co-working spaces and many clients would actually prefer you working at their office instead of from your home. If all else fails, just spend some time working from your local Starbucks.
Practice proper time management
It’s easy to be disturbed by phone calls, emails, etc. Schedule your time the day before. Decide during which time you’ll work on which project. If possible, close your email app. silence your phone and put Slack on DND. Plan and dedicated time for emails, phone calls, etc. Having 100% of your focus on one single task will prove to be much more efficient and less stressful.
These are the lessons I learned in the past 15 years, and I constantly have to remind myself about them... it’s easy to lose focus and fall into one of these traps.
