If you’ve been freelancing for any amount of time, you’ve probably had one of those days.
You know the days I’m talking about. You sit down in front of your computer with your morning coffee, and you feel empty. You’ve got nothing. No inspiration, no motivation, no desire to be sitting there. For a brief moment, even the thought of a cubicle is appealing. At least in a cubicle you could blow off some of your day doing something nonconstructive, if you really worked at it.
Of course, it doesn’t take long thinking about that cubicle before you start to snap to your senses. No, you’ve got the best job in the world. You wouldn’t trade it for anything.
You just don’t want to be doing it today.
Words start flowing, but then they all start flowing together. One article seems to read just like another, and every time you finish a page you count how many more you’ve got to do before you can be done for the day.
You’ve got a touch of freelance burnout.
I get to feeling like this about once a month or so. I’ve learned, however, some techniques that help me to get past it, refocus my efforts, and start loving what I do again. While I can’t promise these techniques will work for everyone, they do pretty well for me:
Switch up your editorial calendar
When you’re writing an ebook or a series of articles, you can get so focused on one topic that it becomes utterly boring. Take an hour in the middle of that ebook to work on something else. If you don’t have any other client projects, write a blog post, or work on your novel for a little while. Sometimes just letting the creative juices flow in a different direction is enough to rebuild your steam.
Take a day off
I know, I know. We’re freelancers. We don’t get days off. Well, I’m here to tell you that if you don’t take a day off from time to time, you’re going to crash and burn. Don’t worry about the work; it will be there tomorrow. So will your bills. Give yourself a day, or an afternoon, to refocus. It’s likely that when you return to work tomorrow, your productivity will skyrocket, making up for much of your “lost” day.
Read something inspiring
Whether it’s a Dilbert cartoon or whether it’s an inspiring post from your favorite freelance blogger, sometimes you need someone else to remind you why you’re a freelancer. Go back to a favorite post from days gone by and really read it. Visit some writing blogs, or try to find a new writing blog out there. Read a passage from Stephen King’s On Writing, or even just sit down with a good novel.
There are plent of other ways to refocus your freelancing efforts. What have you tried? What works for you, and what doesn’t?
8 comments ↓
What works for me:
- definitely, definitely, taking time off
- reading stuff that makes me laugh (icanhascheeseburger top of the list)
- a chat with one of my freelance buddies
- physical exercise/singing
- cleaning the flat/office (no kidding — it reduces my stress and unburns me)
Stephanie Booths last blog post..Links for 2008-09-16 [del.icio.us]
SO timely. I’m grappling with this and fighting myself on taking a day off. I will do it, I will do it. Thanks!
Miz Lizs last blog post..Wednesday Bubble: Rub-a-dub-dub
Burnout is a kind of job depression caused by feelings of helplessness – uncontrollability. When funds are already low and incoming check too few, it is easy wonder if it is possible to succeed and to fear that no matter what you do you can’t.
Burnout is a motivational problem. Constantly searching for assignments and getting way fewer than you need, having to take assignments below your capability or not to your liking, working on tedious projects that pay little and then having to wait for long periods to get paid – while watching prices climb – erodes motivation. And these are only a few of a long list of motivation killers. It is easy to become discouraged, and blaming yourself.
It is imperative to manage your motivation if you expect to succeed as a freelancer. Giving yourself rewards is helpful. But you can’t wait until finishing an assignment. You need to reward yourself for small steps. Important to reward yourself for getting started, for doing a little bit, for getting started again, for doing a little more.
We’ve all heard about the power of goal setting. This is when it is vitally important. But it is easy to set impossible goals and negative goals.
Being a skilled self-manager is essential for succeeding as a freelancer – but awfully hard to develop when struggling with the challenges of freelancing. The problem is that when motivation is damaged, it is very difficult to revive.
For considerable information about burnout, burnout quizzes, what causes burnout and what to do about it, as well as info on self-management, visit my site at docpotter.com.
Taking a day off is vital. Getting up and walking around (or just going to the store so that you see other individuals) can also be a nice – like a mini day off. Your muse needs time to recharge!
Kathryns last blog post..Outsider’s Attitude Towards Freelance
All great suggestions. I like calling up a fellow writer friend for coffee. Just getting out really helps sweep away burnout.
I feel like I can never take a day off completely on my own because I have too many days off that come from others — kid appointments, my appointments (like waiting at the doctor’s office for 90 minutes!), volunteering (I enjoy it — but it is still not a break), illnesses, and so on. So I need every day I can get since I have too many days away from work that are out of my control.
Meryl Evanss last blog post..A Real Life Internet Fable
Nice and usefull post, thanks, this is one for my bookmarks!
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