How to freelance when you are depressed?

Mental health is a big thing that should be considered carefully.

Stress, anxiety, depression, overall loneliness play a HUGE role in anyone’s life, including freelancers.

I’ve been asked this question in the past when I’ve written about my own periods of burnout and depression.

My answer to this question isn’t a simple one. But I share with you my experiences as an example in this episode.

This is something that needs to be put out there more in this man’s opinion.

4 suggestions that have helped me are:

1. Find people that you can talk with every day - inside + outside of your family and friends. You need to talk with folks on both sides of your life, the professional and personal.

2. Take mental breaks throughout the day. Go for a walk. Play with your kids. Even just sit outside on your front porch. Whatever it is that you can do to give your brain a rest.

3. Go on vacation! Can’t stress (no pun intended) this enough. When you get an extended break, your brain does this reshuffle of priorities without you even knowing it. So that when you come back, you are re-energized and re-focused to do some awesome work.

4. Take mental health days. Or even half days. You are building a business of your own, why not take advantage of that once in a while and allow yourself to not work. The other morning I knew I had to get up at 5:30a as I always do. But I literally said to myself, I’m tired, TJ is sleeping well this morning, and so I’m going to sleep in. My wife rolled over at 6:50 and said, you know it’s almost 7 right? I simply replied, yup and slept in until 7:30a.

It wasn’t that I didn’t have a bunch of stuff to do. But I just wasn’t feeling it that morning and so I gave my brain a break rather than force it and potentially make the entire day a lost day, or worse.

There are some awesome communities, like WP Elevation who talk openly about mental health.

I think we all, as humans, need to be more aware of where the health of our minds are. We are always so conscious of our weight or the foods we eat, but if our heads aren’t health, the rest of the body won’t be either.