How to Avoid Freelance Burnout

July 08, 2024

My freelance burnout used to manifest itself in a specific way.

Complete, overwhelming, panic that could last for hours.

This anxiety stemmed from too much work, intense deadlines, and ambiguity about how to complete an assignment successfully for a client. 

Freelance burnout is different for everyone but no freelancer is immune to it. The World Health Organization validated work-related burnout as a real condition, calling it a “state of mental and emotional exhaustion” because of prolonged stress related to your job.

Burnout for all workers is on the rise. Some reports say that nearly two-thirds of all workers believe that burnout has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Fortunately, I’ve learned to recognize the symptoms of freelancer burnout and manage them over the years. 

Here’s what this freelancer knows about the feeling of burnout and how it impacts business:

Stress related to my freelance business is a daily occurrence.

  • Some stress is healthy. It keeps you motivated. Too much stress eats up what could be productive energy.

  • Work-related anxiety is never as bad as it seems.

  • There is always an answer, whether that involves asking for an extended deadline, finding a way to streamline your work, or just taking an hour break to clear your head.

That’s why it’s important to figure out how to cope with stress which can pile up and lead to feelings of burnout.

5 Tried-and-True Tips to Help Avoid Freelance Burnout

Here are tips to help freelancers manage daily stress that can lead to digital burnout and freelance mental health challenges.

1. Managing Your Schedule Can Help with Freelance Burnout

For me, it’s about taking deep breaths and splitting my projects into bite-size little tasks. Some people like to do an outline for every story they write. I prefer to write down a list on paper of how to tackle complicated projects. Then I prioritize the important stuff. 

Apply this same formula to your work week. What’s going to take you longer to finish? What are your looming deadlines?

Create a manageable priority list. That could mean getting one or two big things done every day. Don’t expect to finish your whole work week in one day. 

Sometimes, low-priority items slip off the list and move into next week. It’s okay. Freelancing is not a game of perfection. My days are a constant swirl of juggling freelance assignments and adjusting to my client’s needs and my schedule. Learn How Freelancers Juggle Multiple Clients.

For invoicing, there are dozens of free to inexpensive options. I use FormSwift, which is super simple and easy. A yearly subscription is $99. You’ll want to use a dedicated banking account for your business. That makes it easier to track your earnings. I sock away 25% for taxes into a different account. 

2. Prioritizing Self-Care for Better Freelance Mental Health

Self-care in my freelance business means daily exercise time. I hit the gym or run every day during the week. Most of us work from home. We spend hours in front of a screen. It’s a lonely profession. You can Add These Morning Activities to Your To-Do-List for a Productive Day.

We can summon the worst-case scenarios and focus on all the terrible outcomes. It’s what I call the “living-in-my-head syndrome.”

To break that cycle of constantly thinking about bad outcomes, it’s important to have a clear head. Set a small goal and reward yourself. I like the New York Times’ Games application. I’ll set a word count goal to hit for a freelance client assignment and then reward myself by doing “Spelling Bee” or Wordle. 

Find a daily distraction to reward yourself with and do it consistently. If my stress level is extremely high for a specific reason–like a looming freelance deadline or I’m wrestling with a complicated decision, I take walks. Sometimes, two or three a day. They are usually brisk five-minute jaunts. The break reorients and focuses me.

The type of self-care you choose to help reduce stress and manage freelancer burnout may be different. Find hobbies and breaks that work for you and incorporate them into your day. Can you earn a living freelancing without massive stress? I think it’s possible.

3. Limit Your Workload

One cause of digital burnout is financial uncertainty. 

Even seasoned freelancers can struggle to build a freelance client list that results in regular work. Paychecks can be inconsistent and beginners often have to accept low-paying assignments. 

When I started my writing business, I took whatever work I could get because I needed the money. As I built my clientele, I became more selective about work. I turn down freelance writing stories that don’t pay enough. 

I also build in time during my day for unexpected problems. That cushion helps me keep my day balanced. 

It’s impossible to control all the outside variables but blocking out daily extra emergency time can mitigate 12 or 13-hour work days. I limit my work days to eight hours from Monday through Thursday and work half days on Friday. 

Of course, if there is a lucrative project that requires extra hours, I’ll do what it takes to meet my deadline. And not every day goes as planned.

If you’re an overworked freelancer, you might realize it’s because you’re taking on too much low-paying work. Moving on to higher-paying freelance assignments, exploring various types of freelance jobs, or work toward retainers from clients can help you manage your time better and work fewer hours. It’s important to establish a healthy freelance money mindset to limit stress and burnout.

4. Set Work-Life Boundaries to Avoid Freelance Burnout

When you work from home, it’s all too easy to let business and home life bleed into one another. Especially since many of us are on our phones for business and pleasure throughout the day.

In my freelance business, I finish working by 4 p.m. Some days, that doesn’t happen. I might have to pick up my son from track practice or go to a doctor’s appointment. In these situations, my day gets split up and extended. (How many hours do freelancers work?)

Your work environment is important.

My workspace is sacred and separate from the rest of my daily life. I use a spare bedroom that has a desk with a printer and a comfortable chair. It’s decorated with photos and meaningful knick-knacks. Creating a good vibe matters. You want to be focused but calm when you write.

The good part about being a freelancer is that you can control your hours. Sometimes, I’ll start early and finish early. When I’m done with work for the day, I don’t answer emails, texts, or polish up stories. 

Sometimes, I’ll work on tasks that don’t involve much mental energy, like sending out invoices or paying bills after I’m done for the day. I enjoy taking care of most of the outside tasks that are necessary to run a business so I find it relaxing. Budget time for running the business side of your business if it feels like a chore. Generally, though, it’s my time to decompress when my work day ends. I also prioritize emails. If it’s a non-urgent email, I’ll respond in 24 hours.

I limit phone conversations and online meetings unless I’m getting paid for that time.  Understanding how to manage your time is one of the biggest freelance challenges independent workers need to figure out.

My working hours need to focus on my business. For beginning freelancers, getting to a place where you can have near complete control over your day takes time. 

However, every writer, no matter how experienced, needs to figure out a way to forget about work for a while. Even if you’re under financial pressure, it doesn’t help to stress about it. It makes your situation worse.

5. Schedule Time Off

You probably considered becoming a freelancer because you wanted a more flexible schedule and not having to ask a boss for time off. So why don’t enough freelancers take time off?

It’s important to take off throughout the week–whether that’s weekends if it works for your schedule–a few hours midweek, or a few days for a mini brain break.

Take a short vacation (or a long one if you can afford it) and get out of your environment. I go on at least two short summer vacations and a third wildcard vacation. 

Let your clients know you are taking off a few weeks before you take off and then set up an automated email message. 

If you don’t want to leave or can’t afford to leave, plan a staycation. Plan fun activities that give you joy. I love history so I’m always looking for a new museum to go to. I play golf so I like to go to different courses. I live near Chicago and I can always find something interesting to do there. 

You have to consciously learn to disconnect from the grind of running your own business. It’s easy to fall into the rut of becoming a hermit and working all the time because you don’t have “defined hours” but it’s not healthy. It’s one way to set yourself up for freelance burnout.

By the way, here’s a peek into how many hours freelancers work.

Connect with Others to Reduce Freelance Stress

Figuring out what you need to do to avoid burnout is personal. To build a sustainable business model, you have to use fundamentals to stay fresh. Whether it’s finishing your day after eight hours, making sure you get out of your work environment daily or scheduling time off. It’s important to have strategies in place to deal with freelance burnout and protect freelance mental health. 

It’s an issue that every freelancer has to confront and it’s important to remember that you’re not working in a silo. Every freelancer feels isolated at times. How you cope with it is what matters. 

You might want to join freelancer topic forums on Reddit, Quora, Facebook groups or LinkedIn. Share your freelance challenges with others and help them work through theirs to bond with like-minded freelancers.