Freelancing is a dream job for more and more people, especially millennials and gen Z. Yet, once you start freelancing, you may find yourself facing different issues. In this article, we will take a look at mental health challenges almost all freelancers will face at least at some moment in their online career.
Freelancers and remote workers are prone to anxiety
Why would someone be anxious when they work from home, work when and with whom they want? That’s exactly the problem – freelancers are all on their own. They have to find their own motivation, find their clients, and online business, and constantly think about every single detail related to every project they have or start. Anxiety is nothing new in any serious business, but in freelancing, anxiety most often comes from insecurity about financial safety.
Freelancers, especially newbies, are never 100% sure about their income. How much will they earn this month, will that be enough, what to do if there’s no work, and other similar questions are always in minds of freelancers.
The solution? There’s no solution, all that is part of freelancing and remote work. If you can’t stand such an amount of stress related to financial insecurity and finding your own motivation for literally any single part of every project, maybe it’s a good idea to freelance partial time or to find an employer and work remotely. Check out this article to find out more information related to the differences between freelancing and getting hired remotely by an employer.
Online workers must constantly learn new skills and adapt to forever changing market
The online market and Internet are in constant change, which means that every freelancer and remote worker who wants to be successful in their online business must constantly work on their skills. Here, mental health challenges may come from wondering if your skills will be good enough to satisfy client’s needs. Will you have enough time to study more, gain new skills, and adapt to all changes that are happening online? Many are also worried if that will cost much – will they be able to afford it.
Advice would be to work on self-confidence and build strong self-esteem. Remind yourself about all those difficult situations you already were in, where you had to learn and implement new skills and knowledge. Yes, you’ve succeeded so many times. Why wouldn’t you do that once more?
Related Posts:
For freelancers who are worried about being able to pay for gaining new skills and getting new knowledge, know that the entire Internet is your chance to grow and expand your online business. Start networking and connect yourself with other similar freelance professionals. Be sure that your digital presence is strong and clear – represent yourself in the best possible manner and continually update information related to you and your freelance business.
Luckily, we have all those social media channels where we can build strong portfolios and show our skills, but be sure that you also stay active on various freelancing platforms. Different groups on social media platforms, as well as forums, can also help you find ways that lead to gaining new profitable skills.
Anyways, it’s a mental challenge, but constant change and learning are 100% part of freelancing and remote business. Nothing is stable. But don’t look at it in the negative aspect, but the other way around.
Freelance newbies find it hard to balance work and personal life
Here’s another mental health issue that can definitely make a lot of problems for freelancers, especially new ones. How to balance your work and personal life? It’s easy to lose yourself when you work from home. Many say that they have a feeling of working the entire day, which later on leads to increased tiredness. Lack of support is common as well, and it usually comes from family members and friends, who don’t consider freelancing seriously and don’t think of online workers as employed people.
Advice would be to set your working hours straight from the beginning. Organize your day and make a plan. When it comes to not receiving support, be sure that you set strong and healthy boundaries with others about your work and working hours. Let them know that you are not available.
Depression and isolation in the freelance world are real
One of the most common mental health issues related to remote work and freelancing is depression, loneliness, and isolation from “the real world”. You’re not going to work and coming back home, chatting with people, seeing this and that, hearing this and that on a daily basis. You may think that your life looks the same every single day – everyone leaves home, and there you are – sitting on that chair and working for hours, not feeling connected with people in real-time and the world that surrounds you.
The solution would be organizing your own social life. Your freelancing days don’t have to look the same – take up some hobby. Organize your day in a way you like. Add some physical activity. Have fun, cook something you like. A great thing about freelancing is that you can really organize your day in a way you want and live a healthier lifestyle, so use that.
The importance of feedback for a freelancer
Negative experiences with clients may also be mentally challenging. When a freelancer meets a toxic client, they may truly have a hard time. Even once that’s finished, remote workers are afraid that they will come up to the new one, so they become super cautious, which also leads to anxiety. Read more about the importance of feedback for a freelancer here, and learn how to manage your feelings with the purpose to make everything work for you and your online business.
Freelancers experience burnout more often than regular workers
We can connect this fact to the one where we have talked about balancing work, obligations, and personal life. Freelancers experience increased workloads from time to time, which can be truly stressful. You may be afraid if you’ll be capable to complete all that in a manner that is expected. Here, there’s the same rule we’ve already mentioned in this article – work on your self-esteem. Remind yourself how many times already you’ve gone through such a situation, and most of it was successful. Yes, you can handle it. We know that new clients and new projects cause a lot of stress to freelancers, every single time but look at those challenges that will give you the opportunity to grow and improve your skills, which will result in a more professional online business.
Burnout can be serious and cause you a lot of mental mess, so be sure to find out how much workload suits you. Many freelancers claim that they have stopped experiencing burnout once they’ve decided not to work during the weekend.
In freelancing, there is always something new coming up and nothing is constant. But, why would we think of that in a bad manner? You are free to organize your work and life in a way you’ve always dreamed of, so use that opportunity. Stand strong and accept new challenges and look at them as opportunities that will help you improve your skills and work because such situations are exactly that – things that will make you a great freelancer.
