Managing Burnout as a Freelancer

It's a feeling that many of us know all too well – that sense of exhaustion, frustration, and overwhelm that comes with burnout. And just because you’ve left corporate life behind doesn’t mean that you’re immune. Yep, freelancers get burnt out, too! It can be a major obstacle to growing your business, not to mention maintaining your sanity. Keep reading for the steps I’ve taken to manage through periods of burnout in my freelance career.

Dealing With Burnout as a Freelancer

Manage Your Calendar

Think about how you work best and build your days and weeks accordingly. Maybe you’re at your most creative in the mornings, or prefer to start your days by powering through your to-do list. Maybe you prefer to have time to regroup between client meetings, or perhaps you prefer to group meetings together and have larger blocks of time for focused work. Build out your calendar and set your availability so you can use your time and energy in whatever way is most efficient for you.

For example, I know I feel overwhelmed if I jump into client calls first thing every morning, and that I get stressed out if I feel like I’m heading into the weekend with a long to-do list. Blocking my calendar so that I’m not available for meetings before 10am and making Fridays a meeting-free zone so I can wrap up work and truly enjoy the weekends has made a huge difference for me.

Choose Your Clients Wisely

Have you ever worked with a client whose calls you just dread? Or one that makes you feel under-valued? These types of clients can drain you of energy and put you on a path to burnout fast. Think about what it is that you dislike about them, as well as what you like about your favorite clients. Now consider what questions you can ask upfront to vet that clients are a good fit before taking them on. It can be scary to walk away from any potential client (especially when you’re just getting started as a freelancer), but remember that saying no to clients that aren’t a fit creates space for clients you’ll love working with.

Set & Maintain Boundaries

Once you’ve figured out how to structure your calendar in a way that works for you, clearly communicate your availability to clients. It’s also important to establish boundaries around communication methods - speaking from personal experience, you do not want clients texting you at all hours of the day and night. Let your clients know the best way(s) to reach you, whether that’s via email, Slack, Asana, or something else entirely.

If clients are pinging you outside of your preferred channels, I’ve found the following approach works well. Let’s say I prefer to communicate via email and a client texts me. I’ll reply via email and say something like “I’m replying via email so that this thread doesn’t get lost; as a reminder, this is the best way to reach me for a timely response.”

It’s also important to set boundaries around scope - your contract should be clear on what is and isn’t within scope, but clients often need reminders. Practice communicating when requests are out of scope as well as options for getting them done.

Plan for Time Off

There are so many great things about freelancing, but one of the downsides is not having paid time off. And I’ve found that it’s really easy to slip into the habit of working all the time, so I’ve learned to build time off into both my calendar and my rates. Communicate ahead of time with clients about upcoming time off, send a reminder just beforehand, and set up an email auto-reply and Slack message for while you’re out.

Dealing with burnout is never easy, but it’s an important part of taking care of yourself and your business. Taking a proactive approach to managing your time, choosing who you work with, and setting clear boundaries will help set you up for long-term success as a freelancer.