5 Easy Ways to Stay Healthy As A Freelancer

Freelancers wear many hats. In fact, you might find yourself acting more like a janitor than a CEO most of the time.

In some ways, this variety can be fun … but it can also be draining and impact our freelance health. The result is that many freelancers drown in their many duties and burn the candle at both ends. In the struggle to make business work, we run ourselves down and our physical health often suffers.

The great paradox of all of this is that when your energy and physical health suffer, your work does as well. In other words: the more you work, the worse you work.

With that in mind, here are 5 easy ways to stay on top of your game, keep your energy levels high, and remain productive and healthy as a freelancer.

1. Take 1 minute to breathe.

If you’re like most hard-working humans, you rarely take time to focus on nothing but breathing deeply.

That’s unfortunate because 30 seconds of breathing exercises can stimulate your mind and body into a state of relaxation and recovery. It doesn’t matter how busy you are, anyone can fit 30 seconds into their schedule.

Here’s how you can do it right now:

• Start by breathing in deeply through your nose for 3 seconds.
• Then finish by exhaling through your mouth for 6 seconds.
• Repeat this for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

In fact, here is a video that shows you how to go about it.

2. Set a sleep schedule.

I’m sure you know that if you get better sleep, you’ll be more rested and will work more effectively.

I’m also guessing that you know how hard it is to hold yourself accountable when you’re working on your own. It’s can be easy to let time slip away and suddenly you’re working into the wee hours of the morning.

What you may not know, however, is that if you go to sleep at approximately the same time each night, you will have a much easier time of reaping the benefits.

Research has shown that if you maintain a consistent sleep schedule, then you will not only be more energetic throughout the day, you’ll actually sleep better.

Give your body the rest it needs and do it on a consistent basis.

3. Do your work in a healthy environment.

Are you slumped over on a couch with your laptop by your side and a bag of chips nearby? If so, that’s probably not the best place to work.

Set up shop in a space with good lighting (it improves morale) and make a small investment for an ergonomic chair that will support your back. Make sure you put yourself in a position to do good work for the entire day.

If you’re particularly ambitious, you might also want to look into a standing desk. Research has shown that people who stand on their jobs live longer than those who sit.

4. Move the way you were built to move.

Allow me to illustrate this tip with an example…

Let’s say that you break a bone. Your wrist, for example.

Did you know that if it’s a particularly bad break, doctors and physical therapists often worry about you losing significant range of motion? You might think that it’s because of the break, but it’s not. It’s because when your hand heals in the cast for months at a time, it doesn’t move. When you don’t move your wrist for such a long time, scar tissue and bone heal over it and you eventually lose the range of motion that you once had.

Essentially, by not moving you lose the ability to move. Don’t let the same thing happen to your joints and the rest of your body.

If you don’t stretch your arms over your head for an entire year, you’re going to have trouble doing that. If you don’t squat down and bring your butt to your toes, then you’re going to find that difficult. It’s easy to forget to really move our bodies. Stretch. Reach. Move.

The more you move, the more you will maintain your ability to move.

5. Work based on energy, not time.

Time is a standard. We can’t speed it up or slow it down.

Energy, on the other hand, can be managed. We can determine how to maximize it.

In fact, researchers Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr have discovered that our energy works on an Ultradian rhythm. This rhythm goes in a cycles of about 90 to 120 minutes.

When we work longer than that cycle, our work starts to suffer. To keep our energy levels high, we need to refresh our energy by taking a break, doing some breathing exercises as mentioned above, and moving our bodies.

To put it simply, you should work for about 90 minutes and then take a break. Then go for 90 more minutes and take another break. This block-scheduling will help maintain your energy throughout the day and make you more effective as a freelancer.

These tips can be implemented without much effort. Take care of yourself and your work will take care of itself.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by gunnar3000.