by Leo Wiles
22 March 2015
Without the structure of an office, a boss telling us to go home or a cleaner to turn off the lights, it can be all too easy as a writer to end up burning the midnight oil for longer than is good for us. Doing this for prolonged periods can lead to depression, disease and divorce. And, as someone who experienced burnout after decades of putting in 14 hour days or longer (a period that required 18 months to fully recover), I’ve learned the hard way the importance of balancing work, rest and play. Here are my tips.
1. Get the basics right. Eating well (instead of the bag of salt and vinegar chips I’m having for dinner writing this), getting enough shut-eye, (not staying up trying to squeeze more child-free hours into my day), drinking water… okay, one out of three ain’t too bad, right? Jokes aside, taking care of your health is essential to enjoying life, and one benefit is that you’ll be more productive.
2. Embrace the mini-break. How often do you work your guts out before a holiday, only to end up coming down with a lurgy as soon as you leave the office? Or find yourself playing catch-up for weeks after you return, leaving you more stressed than you were before you left? Instead, contemplate regular mini-breaks. There is something as magical about looking forward to a holiday as being on it. So enjoy the anticipation, the adventure itself and the golden afterglow of having taken some time out, without the stress and expense of a huge holiday.
3. Know when it’s time to step away from your desk. No-one wishes, on their deathbed, that they spent more time on work. So no matter how hard you find it to say no to work say instead: ‘Sorry but I’m away at that time’, or ‘My schedule’s full then, can we move the deadline to xx?’, or Rachel’s favourite, ‘Can I get back to you on that?’ so you don’t lock yourself into something on the spot that you shouldn’t. Plus, riding high on those self-enforced deadlines is a one-way ticket to burnout, so pacing your workload is a no-brainer.
4. Set boundaries. Working from home can end up consuming every spare moment of your day, which is why it’s so important to clock off. 9pm is my magic hour – that’s when I know I will be too tired and become increasingly resentful if I don’t stop working. Also, once I became a mother, I stopped pulling all nighters because it makes me too grouchy. I also quit working most weekends, although I normally put in a few hours on Sunday night to set myself up for the week ahead.
5. Be SMART. Goal setting is as much about being Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely as it is about dreaming big. Instead of thinking you’re a failure for not managing to squeeze a week’s work into a day, ground your dreams in reality.
6. Unplug. Believe me when I say you will not die if you do not scan tweets every ten minutes, read your latest Reddit lead or Google alert. Unplug from the constancy, look up, take a walk – our third rock from the sun will keep spinning, I promise.
7. Block and delete. In my fantasies I set fire to my email list and set up a new address that I never give out so that I always have a zero inbox. Back on Planet Earth however, I have regular spates of unsubscribing, blocking and adding newsletters to the junk pile. I have also given up on having a clear inbox. Instead I settle on the goal of getting it down to one page at the end of the day.
8. Stretch your legs. Ours can be a sedentary life, sitting hunched over a keyboard. I like to write out on the deck with the chance for my eyes to focus at a different length when the birds fly down to see what I’ve put out for them, moving inside to my desk when it gets hotter at midday. Hanging out the washing, getting up to make tea, walking down to the mailbox, preparing dinner, standing up to answer emails in 20-minute blocks are all ways I break up my day, rest my eyes and get my mind and body out of its rut.
What do you do to avoid burnout from freelancing?
