How To Find Balance In Your Freelance Life

Are you taking care of your most important business asset? Do you have balance in your freelance life?

Owning your own business—particularly in this economy—can be a tough challenge. And if your freelance business is set up like mine, you’re the manager, administrator, writer, editor, janitor, accounting department, and collections manager all wrapped into one.

Under normal circumstances, I’m one of those freelancers who has a tendency toward overwork rather than the other way around. And if you’re like me, the current economic conditions only amplify that tendency right now. So many of us are having to do more of everything to stay afloat and continue to stay competitive in today’s marketplace. For some of us, that means more work, longer hours, and the need to expand into new territories—all necessary, but tiring over the long haul.

But in the middle of all that work, it’s more important than ever to take care of your most important business asset: yourself.

Why? If you’re a one-person outfit like I am, there’s no one to delegate to if you get sick or too run down to do your work. And that can hurt your productivity and the profitability of your business. Not to mention, of course, your health and well-being.

Fortunately, I love editing and writing. So most times, that means that the work I’m doing really doesn’t seem like work at all. Still, it’s important to build recharge time into your schedule. How you recharge may be completely different than how I go about doing it. But the important thing is to identify ways to help you find balance in your life—regardless of what the economy is doing at any given time.

Here are some things that have worked for me:

Pencil yourself in. Are you always getting pushed to the bottom of your own agenda? Do you have personal goals that always seem to get squeezed out by everything else on your to-do list? Book time for yourself on your own calendar every day and stick to that commitment. If you’re not making time for yourself to do non-work-related things, you’ll burn out. And as a one-person operation, you can’t afford to do that!

Establish a shutoff time. Freelancers and other self-employed business owners have a unique challenge. If you’re self-employed, your home office and that pile of work is never far from reach. So the compulsion to pick up work when you really need to take an occasional night off might trump all your efforts to find balance. So a good strategy is to decide on a quit time and stick to it. And if that’s too difficult, schedule some other activity in the evenings that will force you to take a break from work for a while. Take up a new hobby, sign up for a class, go to the gym, get together with friends—but give yourself a break.

Take care of the basics. It’s amazing what a difference proper sleep, diet, and exercise can make in how you feel. If any one of these is in short supply, it can really have an impact on your well-being, your productivity, and your outlook. Especially with current economic conditions and the accompanying stress, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re taking care of the basics in your life.

Reach out. Owning your own business can be a very solitary pursuit. So even if you’re a lone wolf, make sure you take time to reach out to friends, family, and other like-minded professionals. You might also consider setting aside the same meeting time every week so that you include some socializing in your schedule.

So how do you recharge? Drop me a line and tell me about it!

Photo credit: James Jordan (Flickr)