Rediscovering Your Freelance Fire
It’s inevitable that as your career grows as a freelancer, your expertise and work patterns will change. And while this evolution is a natural part of your professional growth, sometimes the freelance life—as great as it is—can be a little draining.
Your career can be thriving but you may run into times when you feel burned out or “stuck.” You know you’re on the right path, but somehow you don’t know where to go next. Or you may feel like the spark is gone. Experts will tell you that a break—or an actual vacation—is in order. But there’s another way to liven things up and rejuvenate yourself: rediscover your freelance fire. Here are some techniques I’ve used to get out of a rut.
Go back to the beginning. In my early days as a freelancer, the simplest things gave me joy. Sitting at Starbucks on a Wednesday afternoon pecking away on the laptop while I remained productive and was able to socialize was like a breath of fresh air. I made more time to do this in the beginning. As work got busier and the five-minute commute to my favorite beverage hotspot seemed like it’d take an eternity, I strayed away from this.
Now, I have to remember to make time to do this, as it brings me such joy to snuggle up in a cozy velvet chair with chai tea. Point is: Remember those things that you relished as a freelancer starting out and make time to do them again. It could be going to a fun, mobile location to work, or not working at all. Start identifying one thing and do it. Make it a goal to do more of those “early day” things that attracted you to freelancing.
Practice gratefulness. Sometimes the daily schedule of working at home alone can put me into a doldrums. But I know it wasn’t always like that; when I started freelancing I loved working solo. The quiet house with my music and the smell of coffee wafting out of my home office was pure bliss. Sometimes, I take it for granted. So every once in a while I make it a point to jot down the things I’m grateful for—even mentally taking note of things like not having to commute to work, be stuck under fluorescent lights or deal with rude bosses.
Whenever I wonder if I should take a regular, full-time job and skip the constant effort to stay afloat, I think of my friends stuck at work nine hours a day—and their horrible commutes just to get there. Whenever I’m up and out on the road during rush hour, I remind myself how lucky I am not to have to deal with that. (On the other hand, you may find that you want that life back…and that’s perfectly okay. For me, I know I’m in the right position and just need to remind myself how grateful I am to be here.
Do something in your industry, but outside of yourself. Like I said, a vacation or short break from work may be exactly what you need to get out of a rut. But oftentimes I find that freelancers love their work so much they want to continue; they just want to feel more revved up in doing so. This is why I recommend exploring another aspect of your industry.
For me, taking a break from copywriting to write books keeps me doing what I love but allows me to flex a different muscle of my talent. Designers and programmers may want to take a course on a new technology. Artists may want to use a different medium, switching from oils to pastels, for example. Something as simple as visiting industry-related blogs can revitalize your love for what you do.
The best way to reignite your freelance fire is to look within yourself to determine what led you to what you do and why you love it—and then to find ways to get in touch with what got you here. Let’s face it: Not all aspects of having your dream job are enjoyable, so it’s important to stay focused on what counts, what’s positive and what propels you further.
Kristen Fischer is a copywriter, editor, journalist, and author living at the Jersey Shore. She spent over two hours working at Starbucks while she wrote this article—and lapped up a Venti Skim Chai doing it.
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Fire in me… Are you kidding !! Where are we heading….??
I liked the secion about gratefulness. I think in the current economy with the news spouting doom and gloom every second that taking a moment to remember what we have to be grateful about is important.
Thanks for reminding us.
Great post Kristen. You caught me at exactly the time in my young freelance career when I’m falling into that temporary rut. You make excellent points all around.
About working in your industry, but outside of yourself — I’m a freelance web designer. I recently ventured into blogging as a way to deviate from working only on clients websites and focus on something of my own. I highly suggest this idea to others, as its creatively rewarding, and also forces you to learn a ton about SEO, WordPress, etc. Not to mention writing!
Looking forward to the next podcast!
Thank you for reminding us that many of us are living our dream. No matter how bad it gets (and it has never really gotten that bad!), its never as nightmarish as putting on stockings, high heels, a suit and commuting 1.5 hours to get to my job, then dealing with office politics and crazy bosses. Gratitude is good.
A truly useful and positive post. I personally find the first two points the most appealing, but while I’ve heard the importance of gratitude expressed before, the idea of “going back to the beginning” is something we haven’t heard enough. I think we could all benefit from going back and revisiting what got us here, what made us go down this road.
Thank you!
Ah, gratefulness. Any time I’m feeling really down I stop and take stock and realize that things are actually VERY good and what I’m worrying about it such a minor thing.
Very good points!
-Colin
Great article. We all need a pick-me-up every now and then. Thanks!
As a beginning freelancer and principle for a design collective upstart, It can be frustrating one way or the other. For example, sometimes there is too much work to be done in a short span of time. And sometimes, when the pressure is low, there is an urgency for me to make things happen quicker so that i might be able to enjoy working on new things that pique my interest. What ever the case may be it sure beats working at a fixed-hours job.
Thank you for the article. I am encouraged and inspired.
Thank you for sharing!
Great post today! Will subscribe, needed this to get my moxie back today. Thanks for the effort you put into it.
Thanks for the kind comments. I think going back to the beginning is so important, even mentally. Remembering what got us here and why we started on the path is vital.
Happy freelancing:)
I need an actual vacation!
To be honest, in my experience freelance work is too much work and can have to bigger cost on your life for the rewards that it will bring. Creating your own small business will give you the same freedom but bigger rewards.
I constantly change my style. I know many would say that I should have consistency but I find it so boring not to try something new with every illustration.
sadly though, I chose work that requries me to draw 100s of pages in consistency… comics…
I’m with you Laurie–I change it up, too. Mostly I’m up and available during business hours but some days I take the morning off and work the latter part of the day. Or head out and work remotely. I just can’t sit in my home office from 9-5 per day–no matter how cool it is to be at home.
Thanks Kristen for a much needed injection of positivity. Especially now that I am going back to the world of freelancing after working for a major company for two months.
I’ll get to stay home and have no manager starting next week! Yay.
Excellent points. Since I gave up my 2 hour commute and started working from home, I began to feel increasingly guilty if I took a longer than normal break or didn’t take advantage of the “commute time” to work. For me, feeling grateful was the key to relieving this self-made pressure!
Great article. I havefound with every new client and every percentage point of growth I tend to lose sight of why I went/stay in business for myself. It’s always the small things that we lose sight of.
Thank!!
i have a list of things I do NOT miss about my old 9 to 5 and sometimes I look at it and remember than i have the greatest life on earth. Freelance FTW!
My problem as of late has been burn out. I decided to take a job with one of my clients because I loved the atmosphere. Now, even though I’ve done it before, I can’t seem to work 8:30-5:30 AND work on my business, so I’ve been farming out a lot of my work, instead of hunking down and keeping the money. Although I’ve lost the money, it’s given me some personal time and I now feel like I’m ready to hunker down and get to working again. Sometimes a breather really is all you need.