As someone who has been freelancing since 2020, I am all too familiar with the concept of burnout. Interestingly, I would not have said that I was burnt out at the time, but I was always exhausted, unable to bring myself to write even 2000 words a day after several weeks of writing closer to 10000 without much trouble, and just couldn’t understand why I was unable to focus.
It took me about a year to get back to my pre-burnout state. I am ashamed to say that I lost a few clients in the process, and the work that I did manage to produce in that period of time was so sub-par that I look at some of it now and cringe.
Work-life balance for freelancers is critical. You need to maintain not only your physical well-being but also your mental health to ensure that you are able to cope with varied workloads and maintain a healthy lifestyle that allows you to enjoy the many perks that come with freelancing.
Let’s take a look at how you can find work-life balance, and ensure that you don’t end up crippled by burnout, unable to build your business.
What Is Work-Life Balance for Freelancers?
Most people should be familiar with the concept of work-life balance. You spend some part of your day doing work, and other parts of your day are left open for other activities.
It’s a rhythm that you get into that allows you to balance your work and personal life, so that both get the optimal attention and nothing slips through the cracks; you are able to be productive at work because you are well-rested, and you are able to enjoy your life outside of work because you don’t allow it to intrude in your personal time.
Why Balance Looks Different for Freelancers
If you’re a freelancer, balancing work and life looks a little different for two main reasons: the environment of your work and the business-like nature of freelancing.
When you work in an office, you are able to be there for specific work hours. However, when you work from home, your work day can easily bleed into the rest of your life. It can be difficult to set aside a clear work time and move away from work completely when that time is over, especially if you are working with international clients who have different hours.
Additionally, most freelancers tend to run themselves like a freelance business. It makes sense, since you are the one who sets the work schedule, finds the work, communicates with clients, and does everything else above and beyond your actual job.
Since you don’t have the typical restrictions in place that allow for a typical work-life balance, it is easy to overwork. You need to figure out what balance means for your unique situation, set up the relevant boundaries, and stick to them.
The Cost of Ignoring It
Burnout is the major consequence of failing to maintain a healthy work-life balance. How this presents itself differs from person to person.
I’ve already mentioned my cripling inability to bring myself to do anything. I was like a deer in the headlights, and that only furthered my anxiety around my work. Burnout made me resent my work a lot, even though this was my dream job. I was a full-time freelance writer! A younger version of me would have given much for this privilege.
This strong distaste and inability to produce the quantity or quality of work is a strong sign of burnout. But it is not the ultimate cost. When you work for yourself, failing to show up, whether this is due to fatigue or a creative block, directly affects your income.
Staving off burnout is a matter of survival.
Why Freelancers Struggle With Work-Life Balance
Some of the many factors that make it more difficult to strike the right work-life balance as a freelancer include the incredible flexibility, with few of the traditional boundaries of employment, but also the always-on mentality and the pressure to take on all the work you can.
Flexibility Without Boundaries
Flexibility is one of the many reasons people prefer freelancing to a full-time job. But traditional boundaries are important.
Freedom without form breeds chaos.
When many freelancers start out, they do not implement structures of their own, taking full advantage of this supposed benefit, but in many ways, they are being taken advantage of as well. Ultimately, these structures, like a predetermined work week, give you space to breathe and focus on more than one area of your life.
The Always-On Mentality
Like many others, my phone is connected to Slack, my business email, Trello, Notion, and a variety of other apps used for freelancing and communication. At any time, a myriad of people are sending me messages or are doing something I am being notified of.
And, to make matters worse, working from a laptop means my work is never very far away.
Getting messages while at a family lunch or just quickly hopping on a call on a Saturday morning leads to you quickly feeling frazzled.
There is a definite urge to always be ready to respond at a moment’s notice, leaving you unable to truly rest and relax.
Sometimes, if a client doesn’t understand why they need to wait until first thing Monday morning to get a response from you, they aren’t worth the trouble.
Unpredictable Income and Pressure to Say Yes
This leads us nicely on to one of the most challenging aspects of freelancing. When the amount of work, or the number of clients, you have directly determines your income, you feel incredibly pressured to say yes to everything and to give every project 100%.
Quality isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it can build your reputation, leading to even more clients in the future. Knowing when your plate is full, knowing when to say no because you don’t have the right skills or you don’t have the capacity to meet the client’s expectations, is essential to being able to maintain the quality of all your other projects, as well as your sanity.
How to Set Healthy Work Hours as a Freelancer
Saying that you need to step away from your work life and set specific hours is easy. Doing so is another story entirely. Creating a weekly schedule around your other commitments, time-blocking and theming your days, and knowing when to stop working are all key.
Creating a Weekly Schedule That Works
You don’t have to work a typical nine-to-five to have a semi-consistent schedule. For me, having a clear start time and a clear cut-off time was critical, but it looked more like seven to six.
This allowed me to overlap any hours with clients overseas, but also gave me a hard stop where the laptop was firmly shut and all my work apps had their notifications silenced.
If you work as a photographer, taking a Monday off might be easier than taking a Saturday off, and maybe you are only able to limit your editing hours, rather than the hours you take photographs.
The key is to find something that works for you, rather than trying to fit a mould, but not to abandon a schedule entirely.
Time-Blocking and Theming Your Days
What’s been very useful for me, especially as I continue to work on my own writing, is time blocking.
For me, this looks like an hour, first thing in the morning, for admin, followed by a couple of hours of deep work for clients, with afternoons reserved for the occasional meetings, loose ends, and personal writing projects (these double as marketing for me).
This has the added benefit of preventing procrastination, as I limit the amount of time allocated to each task.
You may find it easier to theme your work days, rather than splitting tasks into hours. For example, you could dedicate Monday to marketing and finding more work, focusing on actual work Thursday through Friday.
Regardless of which technique you decide to try out, the principles are the same. You set aside allocated time for certain tasks, preventing constant distraction, and increasing your productivity when you are actually working.
Knowing When to Stop Working
You can set all kinds of boundaries, but if you don’t actually stop when you said you would, then it’s all a moot point. Turn off notifications, pack your laptop away, and make a cup of tea, do anything you need to do to signal that the work day is now over, and then make sure you don’t go back.
How to Set Boundaries With Clients
Clients… you get the good and the bad, you love them and hate them. But one thing is clear: if you want to be a freelancer, you need them. Setting boundaries is all part of actually getting to have time away from work.
Communicating your availability clearly, even setting those expectations in contracts if you need to, and saying no when clients try to test those boundaries are all essential.
How to Communicate Your Availability Clearly
I’m always upfront with clients. If you contact me about a project on a freelancing app like Fiverr or Upwork, asking me about my skills, you’ll find my working hours are communicated straight away. If you contact me on another platform, you might find an automated out-of-office message with my working hours included if you contact me at the wrong time.
There are many different ways to communicate your availability. I would recommend tailoring each message to include a client’s time zone if possible.
Many freelancers also have onboarding documents that specify their initial working hours when not using freelance apps that provide some sort of security.
If you don’t have a set communication tool yet, I recommend something like Slack or something similar that tells you what time zone a contact is in or what time it may be for them.
Setting Expectations in Contracts
A lot of freelancing platforms take care of financial security on your behalf, so you may not feel the need to institute contracts. But they can be useful for other reasons, like setting out hours in which you work, when they can expect replies to messages, and much more.
It is often easier to enforce your working hours if you actually have them in writing.
Scripts for Saying No (Without Burning Bridges)
So, how do you say no, without stepping on a client’s toes?
Here are a couple of messages you can try. Feel free to use them as they are or refine them for your purposes.
“Thanks for your message. It’s almost the end of my working day. I will make sure to look at this first thing tomorrow and get back to you.”
“Thanks for reaching out! I am fully booked right now and won’t have any availability until next month. If you’d like to revisit this, then I can get back to you.”
“Great to hear from you. Your project sounds great, but with my current capacity, I won’t be able to meet these timelines. Can I refer you to someone else?”
Remember, being upfront is always the best option. Don’t take on work that you know is going to affect your job satisfaction or that you won’t realistically be able to deliver. Clients will appreciate your openness and honesty.
Managing Distractions and Staying Focused
Actually working when it’s time to get stuff done is one of the best ways to quell stress and give yourself as much time off as possible. Having a quiet workspace, the right tools, and getting into the right routines and habits do wonders for productivity.
Creating a Workspace That Supports Flow
Working in a busy coffee shop or on a sunny beach tends to be touted as part of the freelancing dream, but it is far from practical.
In my experience, the best way to manage distractions is to have a dedicated workspace that allows you to focus consistently.
If you are lucky, this could be a dedicated office space. But for most, including me, this isn’t possible. So, we do what we can. A reserved seat at your kitchen counter and a semi-decent pair of noise-canceling headphones are more than enough.
Tools to Reduce Digital Distractions
We’ve already mentioned a practical tool like noise-canceling headphones, but there are plenty of digital tools as well.
I like Freedom, an app and website blocker. Cold Turkey and Focus Keeper are also relatively popular, with the latter acting more like a Pomodoro timer.
It could be as simple as turning off any push notifications so you aren’t interrupted by messages the entire time. Just find something that works for you.
Building Habits That Protect Focus Time
It is difficult to focus if you aren’t used to it. Forming habits is critical and makes the entire process far simpler than it might be otherwise.
Try working in sprints to start with, taking regular breaks so that you have something to look forward to.
I’ve also found that paying attention to my mornings, making sure that I get straight into the work that I need to do, and making that a habit, rather than bartering with myself the whole time and ending up doing nothing at all, is incredibly helpful.
The Importance of Taking Breaks and Vacations
It may be tempting to just throw yourself into work, with the idea of taking breaks and losing the potential income, making rest seem almost counterintuitive. But rest refuels you and allows you to actually switch it off. If you plan well, it can be done without negatively affecting your business.
Why Rest Fuels Productivity
Rest and recovery appear in that order for a reason. Now, we’re not talking rest in the form of scrolling on your phone or doing something fun, but mentally stimulating.
It’s important to actually let yourself get bored and give your brain an actual break. This will not only stimulate your creativity but will make the idea of going back to work easier. You may even look forward to it in the way you look forward to a hobby.
Planning Time Off Without Losing Clients
Planning your time off is key to ensuring you don’t affect your freelance business negatively.
Schedule the time off like you would any other project, and communicate your availability in advance. Be upfront with any potential new clients about those days, and make sure you let your long-term clients know well in advance.
I have a client for whom I have done consistent work for almost a year now. I’ve let them know about a week-long vacation more than two months in advance, when I planned it.
If you have someone you could refer people to, do that. Don’t see it as a loss of business; see it as maintaining or growing your reputation.
How to Actually Switch Off (Mentally and Physically)
Turn off all of your business notifications. If you can, leave the tech behind entirely.
It’s incredibly difficult if you work remotely, even if just the administrative portion of your job can be done remotely, to be able to truly unwind. This would be like trying to spend a holiday relaxing in the break room of your office building. You’re technically not on the clock, but your proximity to your work begs to differ.
Get as far away from it as you can, so that you can just breathe without worrying if every message is business-related.
Maintaining Your Mental and Physical Health
Trying to manage your stress levels, doing little things throughout your day that add up, and catching burnout before it really begins are all key to your long-term health.
Stress Management Strategies for Freelancers
Stress is a natural part of any professional life, but consistent stress can be incredibly detrimental to your health.
Try to identify the unique triggers that set you off and figure out how you may be able to mitigate them. This could mean that you stop working for a certain client, or that you outsource certain aspects of your business.
It may even just be approaching the tasks more mindfully, and making sure that you do not attempt them when you are already feeling frazzled.
Small Wellness Habits That Add Up
Sometimes, it’s the quick and simple things that add up over time. You don’t need to eat perfectly all the time, or set aside hours of your busy schedule to be in the gym.
Instead, focus on the doable. You are likely to experience a diminishing rate of return when it comes to wellness habits, so even just a couple of initial considerations will make a fair difference.
I keep a full water bottle on my desk, encouraging me to drink some throughout the day. Maybe it may help you eat lunch away from your desk or focus on eating a real meal instead of a bunch of sugary snacks if you need to be on the road or in a specific location.
Avoiding Burnout Before It Begins
Once burnout occurs, it’s already too late. Recovery takes time, and there is very little you can do to help it along. Instead, focus on dealing with the issues that lead to burnout before it begins.
Reevaluate constantly, know where you need to make changes, and then stick to them for a couple of weeks before you decide to reassess. Don’t expect everything to fall into place on the first try.
Balancing Freelance Work With Family and Personal Life
Sometimes, when you are trying to focus on freelance success, finding the time for your family and personal life can itself cause stress. Like with clients, you need to set boundaries, but at the same time, know that spending time on things outside of work is all part of life and will help you in the long term.
How to Set Boundaries at Home
Make sure your family knows that you are still working, even if you are around them, and this means they need to respect your time and space.
Physical barriers and visual cues, like a pair of headphones or a closed door, can be helpful. However, having a set schedule and trying to be as consistent as possible generally works the best.
Making Time for Relationships and Hobbies
My biggest tip is that you need to schedule people and hobbies, as you would schedule specific tasks for work.
By doing this, you are not only able to arrange your freelancing schedule to ensure that you get all of your work done alongside your family time. Make dinner plans, or even just set aside dedicated reading time.
Freelancing as a Parent or Caregiver
Being a parent or caregiver isn’t exactly something you can schedule. Things come up, so how do you get all your work done?
This is where freelancing shines. Instead of managing time based on the clock, you have the ability to build in some flexibility. Give yourself a longer work day, or work at odd times when you get a chance.
If you finish early, great. If something comes up, you know you’ve got a little bit of extra working time scheduled.
And don’t be afraid to ask for help. Remember, freelancing is a full-time job. You should not be afraid to ask for the same resources that you may have needed if you went into an office or something.
How Your Personality Type Affects Work-Life Balance
Unfortunately, different personality types just have a harder time finding the harmony between work and life. If this is you, it doesn’t necessarily mean freelancing is not the best option; it just means you are going to have to take certain precautions.
Are You an Introvert or Extrovert Freelancer?
If you’re an introvert, spending a bunch of time communicating with clients may be a struggle for you. If you’re an extrovert, you may struggle with a lot of isolation.
So, depending on your freelance career path, you may struggle with different aspects of your day or week.
The important thing is to design your life around what fits you.
Structuring Your Day Based on Energy Patterns
If you know you’ve got an upcoming deadline, you need to schedule that work when you are the most energetic. For an extrovert, this could be right after an in-person meeting, while an introvert might be exhausted after.
For someone who is more energetic in the evenings, it might be worthwhile putting this work off until later, while others might have to do it first thing in the morning.
There’s no one-size-fits-all. You need to make your schedule your own.
Signs You’re Out of Balance (And How to Fix It)
So, how do you know when you are on your way to burnout? Being abnormally irritable or experiencing physical symptoms like headaches and insomnia are sure signs that something is going wrong.
Mental and Emotional Red Flags
Irritability is one of the most common red flags, as mentioned. This could be while you are working, but in most cases, the irritability tends to spill into all areas of your life.
On the other hand, complete apathy is also relatively common.
For some people, a lack of balance may even result in a sense of dread or impending doom.
The Physical Costs of Imbalance
Headaches are a well-recognized sign of stress.
Other red flags include insomnia, which, ironically enough, is often paired with chronic fatigue.
If you are experiencing any of these signs, take some time to evaluate your work schedule, as well as your stress levels. If you are in the midst of some extremely stressful tasks or projects, it means you need to work a lot less for a few days, and then pick up the pace again later.
Final Thoughts: Redefining Success as a Freelancer
Burnout is crippling. Trust me, I’ve been there. Some days I still feel like things aren’t quite the same.
You need to remember that success as a freelancer isn’t just about making a lot of money now or filling your calendar to the brim. It’s about building a fulfilling life and a long-lasting career, so that you can look forward to every day.
Have you ever experienced burnout? What strategies did you use to cope? Let me know in the comments below, or reach out to get talking.
