Yesterday, I typed a really long, hopefully informational piece on not draining yourself physically while you undertake your career as a freelance writer for hire. Today, we get to review what you should do to keep your emotions on the low-down – that is to keep ourself away from burnout and emotional drainage.

Writing is a tedious, sometimes, repetitious task. While the glam of working from your home is seen as a superb opportunity for those stuck in their office, many freelance writers yearn for the office when it just gets to hard to handle. We are bound to our home writing space, often without the chatter of fellow coworkers in the background. It is lonely, and for me, loneliness has sent me on long drags of depression making it almost impossible to want to write at times.

A man’s best friend is their for you 24/7

A solution to the emptiness a freelance writer might feel can be dissolved when there is always our best friend to cheer us up. A pet relies on a human’s love and affection for it, and assuming you are a freelancer of some sort, you are probably an a human an animal can depend on. Animals provide the perfect pick-me-up, purring and playing with us, and demanding we feed it and spend time on it. Dogs are excellent, as they should be walked daily. This activity gets you away from your computer during your break time, which is an excellent source of exercise. Those with animals are proven to have a lower chance of being diagnosed with severe heart conditions, as well.

You like that, do you?

I’m attached to my computer, and that isn’t a great thing. It’s enough that I spend several hours a day on it doing my freelance writing work, but then I stare at my screen another 5 hours checking my social sites and reading countless other blogs. It’s time to get a hobby. A hobby can be anything, but it should stay away from your computer monitor. It gives you time to get away from the drain of your freelance writing, and lets you lose yourself in something you truly enjoy. You don’t need to be good at your hobby as it is just something that can help you build up a skill further. If you really enjoy writing that much though, do it, but start out with pen and paper first.

Maybe it’s time you sit this night out

You say you are getting tired of working on all your freelance writing projects at 3 A.M. in the morning? Stop complaining, because that isn’t my fault. Wake up earlier, and start that project up at 9 A.M. Then call up your friends, invite your neighbor, or pull your spouse along to the nearest bar or club. Loosening up at a party is an awesome way to give yourself a pat on the back for getting a long project finished with. Just make sure you don’t have any projects the next morning that are urgent. Even if this is the case, I find letting myself look like a fool on the dance floor extremely exhilarating. I don’t even need to drink to get my emotionally burnt out brain bright and perky for more freelance writing projects in the coming week. Making this your reward at the end of your project is a way to keep yourself pushing through your writing until you complete it.

I $#(sh^**ing hate that client!

Justin Dupre – Professional Freelance Writing with an Attitude – While I use that in reference to my writing being spicy, catchy, and a little more on the trendy side than other freelance writers’ manuscripts, I guess it can refer to me on top of that. I’ve got quite a temper, and have exploded when I can’t get things to run the way I’d like them to. When I have a client that asks for too much, or fails to pay me on our scheduled date, I get a little more than ticked off. Those clients should be glad I’m probably on the other side of the world and behind a computer monitor. Anyways, to get over this I let it out on people that experience the same problems as me – other professional freelance writers for hire.

We carry a common goal – to make money from freelance writing – and when our emotions kill us, it is always good to have someone to talk to. Other freelance writers will probably be very understanding of your situation as chances have it that they’ve probably had the same thing happen to them on more than one occasion. Talking about your emotions is completely okay, and should be supported. If you need to cry, let it out. You’ll feel better afterwards, unlike how horrible you would feel if you kicked that client in the shins (and I know you want to).

It’s 4 in the morning here, so I am cheating. Failing to listen to my own advice should be against the law. Luckily, I’m in the safe zone. It’s bedtime for bonzo, so I will see y’all tomorrow. Mmm kay?

Love and Respect,

Justin

A freelancer’s life is all about taking the skills you have and putting them to use for other people. That is nearly the extent of it. We do it, and we do it a lot. It is hard to say that you will never reach that point when you just can’t do it anymore. You will have times when you can’t write another word; there will be times when you are tired of adjusting one little vector point, and there will be moments when you want take the nearest sharp object and stab your monitor. While I hope no freelancer ever gets desperate enough to destroy an expensive object, burnout happens.

I love writing. I can do it, and I can do it efficiently and fast. Sometimes, I don’t want to do it. It’s hard to keep taking orders, and punching them out. It isn’t because the writing is on a difficult topic, but it sometimes turns into a never-ending cycle of monotony. I want to disconnect my keyboard and throw it out the window. I never want to type another general sales copy or PR copy for any other client. My brain can’t take the stress it takes when I get bored of it. Sometimes I can see myself never writing another copy, but keep in mind, this is something I enjoy.

What do you do when you reach this point? Others will say it is time to take a break. Walk away from your work and take a ride on your bike around the block. Buy an expresso at the nearest coffee shop to get pepped up. Have some fun doing something you enjoy, preferably as far away from your freelance workplace and accessories (computer) as soon as possible. Some will even advise a full blown vacation. If you have the time, the money, and can get away from your clients, I’d take up the last point in an instance. I’m already in Thailand though, so it is nearly a vacation everyday, and the beach is a 5 minute walk from my apartment anyways.

What do I do when I am burned out? I just tell myself to suck it up and finish the project. When it gets this bad, it is usually the bad projects though. These are the projects I started up that I should have turned down. These are the “I need 100 articles on the same topic articles” clients. This is the boring freelance writing work that should be taken by those prepared to take the topics, or desperate enough to need the money to write them. Anyways, I tell myself that I need to get these things done, and force myself to sit down and undertake as quickly as possible. In the end, is it all that bad? Usually, not so. It may have just been a bad day, or I just felt a need to complain.

All freelance writers and designers, marketers and consultants, or any other type of freelancer will experience this. It isn’t uncommon by any means. It is something we need to find a solution to, though. Whether it requires you to give yourself a kick in the butt or take a nice walk on a foreign beach, there should be some sort of various answer to your freelance burnout problem.

If you can’t find a solution, you may need to reexamine whether or not freelancing is really for you.