Recognizing the Signs of Freelance Writer Burnout in Yourself

By Dana Prince

Usually, I’m a pretty positive person. But yesterday, I had an ‘I suck’ moment. I had a meltdown during a difficult assignment and didn’t feel good about the work I’d done. I got stuck. I questioned my abilities. It was awful. It’s not always easy being a freelancer and having to go it alone. It’s been a while since I’ve taken any time off. Thinking back, if I’d looked at myself yesterday as an outsider I probably would’ve said, “She’s got burnout.”

I’ve had to give myself an awful lot of pep talks, lately. I think that’s a sign that something that needs to change.

My meltdown wasn’t pretty. But, there’s no crying in baseball… so, finally, I emailed the client and told them I was sending them what they should treat as a draft and asked them to come back to me with feedback to help me deliver what they wanted. Then I got out of the house for a few hours to clear my head.

I’ve been working a lot of hours in the past few weeks. I’ve also had about half a dozen things go wrong around the house so I’ve been feeling stressed. I don’t want to suck. Maybe I didn’t. Maybe I just felt burnt out. Maybe I did suck. I guess I’ll find out when the client replies to yesterday’s message.

I had trouble sleeping last night. Then this morning I looked at a very long to-do list and felt very overwhelmed. I decided to just break it down and do one thing at a time. So far it has helped.

-I wrote mini to-do list on a Post-It with most urgent projects. That way the to-do list is short, rather than long. One thing at a time!n

-Did a quick clean up my work area so I don’t feel so buried.

-Got food in my tummy and took my vitamins.

-Found something for the little one to do so I could work uninterrupted for a bit.

-Decided to try to have a positive attitude.

I did a press release for a new client first. I probably shouldn’t have even taken the job since I had so much on my plate this week but that’s another problem I have — — not being able to say “No” to work. When I got started, I felt so apprehensive thatI toiled over it for about an hour longer than usual. Yesterday had left a lingering feeling of doubt. But…no revisions. They loved it and placed a new standing order. I don’t suck today. So far… :)

When I’m overworked it affects my eating, my sleeping, my family, my confidence, and my writing. Another client wrote today to point out an error I’d made that I probably wouldn’t have made if I weren’t so darned…overwhelmed. I decided that yesterday was a big red flag warning of freelance writer’s burnout for me. I’m going to work hard to get through this to-do list and then take a day off. Then, a 3-day weekend next weekend… away from the house AND away from the computer. I bet it’ll do me wonders. Do you recognize the signs of burnout in yourself? Please make sure you watch for it and act on it. I’m pretty sure that your health, your frame of mind, and your writing will all thank you for it.

P.S: On previewing this post I saw that Sharon Hurley Hall has a post from about 3 years ago here that’s highly relevant: How to Cope With Writer Burnout. Check it out.