How To...Deal With Bad Days

Yes, burnout is still possible even when you’re freelancing 😪 The Pros: If you want to take a mental health day, you can! Without the anxiety of calling in sick or lying to your boss 😂


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Transcript

HID Ep 19
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[00:00:00] Catherine: Hello there. My name is Catherine and I'm 23 years old working as a full-time freelancer in the media and entertainment industry. And welcome to the how I diaries podcast. I'm here to debug all your fears and doubts surrounding the topic of freelancing and more importantly, get you on your way to a happy and stress free lifestyle.

[00:00:25] Doing that creative passion that you love. So if you find yourself stuck at a job that you. You're wondering how to get your dreams started. You've heard of freelancing before, but you're skeptical about what it entails. I'm sharing everything I wish I knew earlier and the tips and tricks I gain every day for my own freelance work.

[00:00:40] So freelance isn't always rainbows and butterflies. We are humans and imperfect in nature, and it's actually healthy and normal to have bad days or off days. But of course, with freelance, there's always a perk. Like I said, it's normal and human to have bad days. It's your body telling you to slow down and take a.

[00:00:59] So when [00:01:00] you're planning out your week or month or whatever it may be, make sure you're taking the time to analyze your personal needs and mental health. I am not always great about doing this. I'm still working on it myself, but with enough practice around it, I'm sure eventually it will become a habit it's hard when you actually enjoy your work and just so used to working all the time and then also bearing all your own individual.

[00:01:22] Fears surrounding money and security and stuff like that. I personally find the money and security part of it. The hardest to overcome. It's hard for our brains to settle and feel comfortable. Even if on paper we're making enough to feel secure. Life is unpredictable. You know, we're sort of in a bit of a recession right now and all this other crap that makes it really easy to constantly Harper this fear, but ALA mental health days are I.

[00:01:46] After all, you chose this lifestyle to be able to enjoy life more and not just work. So remember, you're working to live and not living to work. I feel like there are a few ways to approach this depending on individual burnout, thresholds, and just [00:02:00] personality types in general, the way I personally allow myself the time to slow down and step outside of work is sort of day by day approach.

[00:02:07] I try and give myself at least one day off a week. And fortunately for most of my time freelancing, I've had two to three days off. I like the idea of a four day work week. And I'm sure a lot of other people would too. I forget the name of the book. I'll have to find it through Alex Paolo's Amazon book list, but it's a book about the four hour Workday and four hour work week.

[00:02:26] What a dream that would be. But anyway, on these days off, I sleep in and most of the time I just stay home. I consider myself. An Omni vert. And in my current lifestyle, it is the most recharging for me when I can stay home and just relax. It's really important in general, to be able to gauge your energy levels and know how to recharge.

[00:02:44] So be self-aware, I'm also human and I get my fair share of waves of anxiety and depression throughout the month. And even a week, I have a handful of hobbies. I do that help ease these troubles when they do. The important thing is to allow yourself to have these days and nurture yourself. Maybe [00:03:00] even you need vacation plan, these things throughout the year for you to look forward to, you know, having bad days is in no way, a reflection of the success of your freelance career, you as a person or whatever it else you may try to attribute it to catering to your needs.

[00:03:15] Always pays off in the short term and long term. So don't make shortcuts, some signs from my. Body that I know are because of burnout are my eating habits change. I have breaks in my, you know, morning and nightly routines. I am irritable. I have a lack of motivation. And the biggest part for me is I see myself using my cell phone a lot more.

[00:03:37] Does anyone else relate to this? I don't know if this's just me, but my go-to fixes for these things. Are food shopping, long showers, binge watching YouTube, you know, journal writing. I love a good nap, bike riding, going to the gym, playing piano or guitar, you know, get to know yourself and your habits. I personally learned a lot of this through therapy, highly recommend anyone going to [00:04:00] therapy.

[00:04:00] Everybody could use a little therapy, no matter if you think you have any major, major issues. I think anybody can benefit from it. I am certainly just one of those work AA. Types of people. I love getting to create my own schedule and all of that, but I also find myself working sometimes six to seven days a week.

[00:04:17] But that's the thing when you enjoy what you do, you know, you can't shut your brain off sometimes cuz things you're often thinking about, you're thinking about them because you know, it's a part of your life. And now since you're taking this route, it is also your work life. So I constantly am taking notes on my phones on like my random thoughts throughout the day of business ideas and just like, you know, little things.

[00:04:38] You know, episode ideas, things like this that happen to me in the spur of the moment. So I can't always completely shut off, but I think my biggest things are I get to sleep in and the work that I do, even when I am working, I'm not dreading it. I get up and I look forward to what the day entails and what the week entails more about the money in security thing.

[00:04:59] [00:05:00] I don't know if anybody else relates to this. I'm always saying that freelance is. Stable and freelance has, you know, you can support yourself off of it. And like I was saying, even if you have the proof to show on paper, that it is stable and you're making a living and all of this other stuff, there are psychological aspects of money and security from maybe the way that you grew up or, you know, just your overall thoughts and mindsets with money.

[00:05:25] I personally. And one of those people who, I'm not a spendaholic, I'm like the opposite of that. I'm always saving for like a disaster , which is great because I get to save and all that, you know, I'm pretty responsible with money in, in that case. But I think that's what I struggle with the most. Like when I don't wanna cook or I'm just too tired to cook, I wanna order Uber eats, but I'm.

[00:05:46] Oh, that's like $30 worth of something I'm gonna pay. And I don't want to get into the habit of just using that because it's convenient. You know, I'm still trying to save money, even though I do have the money to do things that are more convenient. [00:06:00] I still like to stick to my ways and budgeting and stuff like that.

[00:06:03] They always say that your mind is. Your worst enemy and I'm still struggling with how to relax and reap the benefits of what I'm doing. You know, I'm successful and I'm able to make a living off of this. So I just gotta get the psychological part of it down, but I don't know if anybody else relates to this.

[00:06:20] Just. I know I kind of went on a little bit of a tangent, but yeah, that is it for this episode. And if it reaches you and you have any other burning questions or stories, I'd be happy to use this as an outlet to connect and build a community. You know, let's support each other on all of our bad days. Are there any other mental health.

[00:06:38] Battles you deal with or are scared of in relation to freelance or your work life balance. Let me know, follow me on Instagram at how I diaries and shoot me a DM. In the meantime, go binge all my other episodes for various other topics relating to how to get started, doing what you love. And please, any episode recommendations I'd love to hear.

[00:06:55] Let me know what your particular struggles are. You're probably not alone. Subscribe to [00:07:00] this podcast. So you stay up to date on when I post. Batch, give it a rating, share with a friend who also needs to listen. I post five new episodes at the end of each month. So stay tuned and as always, thank you for listening.