On the face of it, the life of freelancers who starts their own business look fantastic. The freedom to work from home without the drudgery of commuting or a boss looking down your neck for eight hours each day. In many ways, freelancing is an ideal lifestyle, providing the freedom and independence that the majority of today’s employees demand. But there’s a caveat to every advantage.
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Freelancers must not only be accountable for their own productivity, but also for their own health and well-being while on the job. When deadlines are looming and the workload feels overwhelming, it’s tempting to put your own health on the back burner. Here, we look at some of the things that freelance workers can do to protect their health and wellbeing.
Keep to set working hours
Nobody will pull you out of bed or scold you if you are not at your desk by 9 a.m. while you work from home. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing for frelancers. If you get up and start working too late, you can feel stressed and like you are wasting valuable time. However, working too late into the night can mean that you never quite manage that elusive work-life balance and get a break. Freelancers can establish set working hours and stick to them.
Make sure you take breaks
Taking breaks for lunch, a coffee, a walk and perhaps meeting with a friend is important when you work from home for yourself. It can end up very isolating otherwise. Do not forget to schedule longer breaks once in a while too. When you are self-employed, it can be tempting not to take a holiday because you feel like you are letting clients down, but for your own mental wellbeing, it is important. Take a private covid test before you go, and get away somewhere hot and sunny for a few days. When you come back you will feel refreshed and reinvigorated, and work much better than you would should you be exhausted and in need of a break!
Eat properly and stay hydrated
Your body is a machine, and like any machine, it needs fuel to function properly. There is no reason to disregard your health and well-being by not making time to eat, no matter how demanding a project or how it is to an important deadline. You will always function better when you have eaten properly and made sure you have had plenty to drink. Leave those convenient but usually nutritionally empty microwave snacks and packets of crisps alone, put down the coffee and grab yourself some fresh fruit and nuts to snack on during the day, something filling but healthy such as soup and salads for lunch and plenty of water for drinking.
Get some steps in
Every so often, get up from your computer and take a walk and stretch. Whether it is laps of your own garden or a quick brisk walk around the park, it is important to get some physical activity into your day. Freelancers get to choose their hours, including the ones were they stretch their legs.
Psychotherapy Services
There are many times when we all need someone to talk to, and this is especially true for those who work from home. If you feel like you are struggling to cope, it may be time to consider seeking professional help. There are plenty of good quality online therapists these days that can offer you confidential sessions without the need to leave your house. For example, on EMDR Healing they offer a BetterHelp promo code which can give you a discount on your sessions.