This Is How Freelancers Manage Their Mental Health

Gabrielle: The biggest lesson I've learned in my freelance journey was the emotional roller coaster. I mean, when you win, you win. When you lose, you lose.

This is How Freelancers Stay Sane and Thrive

Kaitlyn: To me, what it means to have a healthy work-life balance is to have emotional, mental, and physical health, all of that taken care of. So I don't work 10-, 12-, 15-hour days.

Farah: You have one life, and you can really shape your work around your life. Just ask yourself what kind of life you want to live.

Rob: I can be in Mexico working and my clients don't care because I get the job done. I work three hours of the full day as hard as I possibly can and take the rest off to reset. I literally created a book, for myself, that helps me time manage my own business that I sold on Amazon because I needed to think differently about how my day was structured. My time blocking is literally time blocking space for myself now and not my clients, which is an extremely hard balance.

Kaitlyn: Being able to have the freedom to get out and go walk my dog in the woods when I want to and walk my child to preschool in the morning without having to race back is a huge thing for me.

Rob: I don't think I would be where I am today if I didn't think strategically about my mental health.

Ed: My god. Take care of yourself. Get exercise. Get away from the normal scene. Have your own "me time," and drink this stuff [water].

Rob: There's always gonna be that client. There's always gonna be those expectations. But if you don't prioritize your health and your mental health right away, you will not be able to work as efficiently as possible.

Gabrielle: You do some yoga, breathe, go to the gym. That type of practice shows up in everything that you do.

Ed: Freelancing is work. It's a lot of work. But, you know, it's not just something that you're gonna lay back and say, "Oh, it's all gonna come to me." No. You have to work hard, but stay in shape, get exercise, and get your rest.

Rob: My mental health is my most important priority right now. The more I reset for myself, the more benefits you're gonna have with your business.

This is How to Own Mistakes  (So They Don’t Own You)

Kaitlyn: One of the biggest mistakes I've made in my freelancing career, took me a while to get through this one… I got an enterprise client on Upwork – It's literally everything from starting to scaling it, to the KPIs, did the marketing, did the quiz, did everything. I built a global team to bring this project to life, and I was the face of it. The web developer didn't come through.

Gabrielle: Is it scary? Yes. Is it shameful? Kinda. Because you're like, "Wow, I really dropped the ball here." There is no getting around this.

Kaitlyn: I found out about the website half an hour before I was handing over to the client. So, I just got on the call with the client and I just took a really deep breath.

Gabrielle: Just be vulnerable, and that strengthens the muscle to face things in your life outside of work, in your family, in your personal relationships, and in so many other arenas of your life.

Kaitlyn: They said, "Look, thanks so much for all the work you've done. I appreciate your honesty." And I said, "Look, I'll follow up with them, and I'm always here. I'm so sorry." And I was just as honest as I could possibly be.

This is How to Take Time Off

Gabrielle: At the beginning, I can't remember taking time off, honestly. I was looking forward to responding quickly. I was looking forward to keeping that momentum. But, again, over time, it's not sustainable.

Farah: I love traveling, and I love the freedom that I can just take off whenever I want. That's the life that I want.

Rob: It's a good balance, the nomad life. Unless you don't have Wi-Fi, I've been in that situation. It's the worst.

Kaitlyn: My son's in preschool, so every 10 weeks, we have a week together. Fortunately, I've got a team as well who know that when I'm at home with Alfie, he's my number one priority.

Gabrielle: The essence of time has become so sweet. I don't wanna miss anything with my daughter, but I really do love what I do. So when I'm there at the coffee shop with my headphones on, I'm enjoying that time. I’m bossed up. I'm boss lady. You know? What's up? But when I'm with my daughter, I'm shifting. And there's a clear boundary these days on work and play and leisure.

Rob: Sometimes my time off is set up through competitions with myself and my wife for landing new clients, and it's pretty fun. Whoever lands the most clients at the end of the year for the marketing company gets to take the other person on vacation. It doesn't really matter who loses, we're both gonna benefit somehow.