AD- This is a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I recently experienced burn-out for the first time – and it really knocked me. From fatigue to self-doubt, I started to question everything about freelance life.
However, this questioning caused me to think about the direction of my work. It helped me re-direct my freelance career and understand what I need to do to get a bit of passion and joy back into it.
Experiencing burn-out is a sign that something needs to change in your life, whether that’s in your personal life or career.
For me, I needed to prioritise my work-life balance, understanding the direction of my freelance career to reduce stress, find the right clients and ultimately feel good about my work again.
In this blog post, learn how burn-out helped me re-direct my freelance career – and 5 things I changed about my approach to freelancing
Using burn-out to re-direct my freelance career
In the lead-up to burning out, I took on lots of work without thinking about it, as I wanted to keep making money and support my dream.
This meant I never said no to any opportunities – and so my burn-out was inevitable!
As I recovered, I started to re-direct my freelance career back towards writing: my passion. I moved away from certain clients, finding new ones that fit with my direction.
I am now back to building my career in a sustainable, effective way. I say no to the wrong opportunities, and I make my boundaries very clear to the right ones.
Now, I only apply for jobs that I want to do. I’ve also put more time into nurturing my client relationships- and I am so incredibly grateful for my regular clients.
I’m still learning, but it’s good to know that my experience of burn-out had a positive effect, helping me begin to find my way again.
5 ways burn-out helped me re-direct my freelance career
1. I moved away from social media
In the lead-up to burn-out, I took on a lot of social media work. This was great at first, and I loved connecting with new brands in need of online promotion.
However, this social media work took a toll on my mental health – and I spent most of my days online, instead of writing- which is what I love to do.
I still do some social media work for my clients, but I pick and choose any opportunities so that I don’t get too stressed or bogged down.
2. I stopped working at the weekend
Before I burned out, I worked every weekend!
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with completing a bit of work at the weekend – and I sometimes do the odd bit here or there.
However, if you plan Saturday and Sunday like weekdays, you leave yourself with nothing to look forward to outside of work.
Burn-out helped me re-direct my freelance career by taking time off at the weekend.
Now, I get excited to finish work on Friday – and I look forward to starting again on Monday.
3. I started writing more
While burning out, I started to examine the work I complete for clients.
I was so caught up on making money and growing my client base that I no longer found myself writing, editing or formatting many articles – and I knew this needed to change.
After burning out, I started to write and edit more. From blog posts to website content, I prioritised content writing jobs. I am a freelance writer, after all!
4. I went back to blogging
I never stopped blogging, but I took a short break from it when my freelance work picked up.
However, it was my blog that first started my love of writing online. So, after burning out I returned to blogging as a way to feel inspired by my writing again.
I also get a chance to work with fantastic companies and brands on my blog, and it’s been great to invest a few more hours in it each week.
Burn-out helped me re-direct my career and re-consider my focus. Finding ways to enjoy my writing again was a big part of that!
5. I made connections with other freelance writers
Before I experienced burn-out, I was the only freelancer I knew. This soon became very isolating.
When I recovered from burn-out, I set about making connections with other freelancers on Twitter and other platforms.
Now I have several freelancer friends who I can turn to when I need a bit of advice, or just for a chat!
This has also helped me bounce ideas around with other people, and they give me fantastic advice about growing my freelance career.
At the end of the day, if you’re a freelancer, you’re the one who sets the direction and pace of your work.
Whether you complete online translation services for your clients or you’re a writer like me, it’s important to understand what you want from your work and the direction of your current and future career growth.
The mistakes I made led to burn-out, but this ultimately allowed me to find the direction I needed to push my freelance work where I want to go.
Have you ever experienced burn-out? How do you stay on track when it comes to your career? How has burn-out affected your freelance career?
Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below 🙂
Happy reading x
Not-So-Modern Girl 
God established the pattern to avoid burn out. After the six days of creation, He rested on the seventh day, thus showing us that we, too, need a day to recharge.
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As a freelance writer, I can completely relate! I try not to work too much over the weekends, and I find that helps. But it’s so hard sometimes, isn’t it? I have a love-hate relationship with writing!
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Thank you! I think giving yourself time off over the weekend can really help, but yes it’s difficult I agree 🙂 x
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It sounds like you’ve made some great shifts in how you approach things. I’m not a freelancer but I am trying to rethink some parts of my online life so this was really useful.
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Thank you Molly! I think that’s so important, I’m glad you found some value in the post 🙂 x
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Great ways to avoid burnout. We especially need to get better of taking off the weekends.
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As a fellow freelancer, fortunately, I’ve not experienced burn out (yet!) but I know what you mean about not wanting to say no. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but worth it in the end – part of the reason for going freelance was to work with clients I like and on topics I have an interest in, so it doesn’t make sense not to stick to that! Glad you were able to turn your burnout into such a positive 🙂
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That’s good to hear Lisa. It can be so hard to say no when your income depends on it 🙂 that’s so true- the beauty of freelance work is that it gives us more freedom, so we need to find clients that we’re passionate about! Thank you x
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That’s awesome that you did these things. I’m still working on the weekend and I need to change that.
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I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it- but it can help to have things outside of work to look forward to x
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I love the way you have approached burn-out and how you have tackled it and re-directed your freelance career! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
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Thank you Lucy! I think in the end I could use it positively x
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Loved reading this post! Sometimes we have to burnout in order to formulate a new plan. I’m glad you’ve found your boundaries and time off at the weekend sounds fab!
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Thank you! Yes, it shows us that something needs to change- and we need to implement some healthy habits. Thank you x
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Making connections with others in your field is so important. And I love a good social media break to benefit my mental health!
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Yes! It can really help you get away x
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We’ve experienced burnout before juggling busy lives. One of our goals for 2023 is to be more organized. It’s great that you were able to redirect and focus on your freelance career.
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Thank you. Yes, I think it can be tough when there are lots of things going on at once. That sounds like a great goal x
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I’m glad you were able to re-direct your career. Burn out can be tough but it looks like you made it for the best!
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Thank you!
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It is great you were able to use your burn out to help motivate you and change the narrative. These are some helpful tips! Thank you for sharing.
Lauren.
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Thank you! I really hope these experiences can help others avoid my mistakes 🙂
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Great post Eleanor! Giving yourself a break, such as not working on the weekends, is a game changer. With freelancing schedules, it can be easy to get some work in 247, but giving yourself activities and days off to look forward to makes a huge difference!
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I agree, it can really help your productivity in the week too as it pushes you to get everything sorted before you take some much-needed time off 🙂 Yes that’s so true, thank you for sharing x
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Sounds like you found a good balance and remembered what you enjoy. That’s so important.
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Thank you Emma 🙂
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Creating a work/life boundary is important, especially when freelancing. It’s so easy to do a bit of extra work here and there when you’re contactable 24/7. I’ve had to make sure I don’t look at any communications regarding work unless it’s within my work time
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I think so too, yes it’s so easy to feel like I can constantly take on more work- but I need to know that’s not possible for my mental health! That’s great, I’m glad you’ve created that boundary
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It happens with me too sometimes. Take a break and restart again that my strategy. Liked this post very much. Nice work….God bless.
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Thank you!
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I think recognizing that you’re feeling burnt out and knowing when to take a step back is SO important. Especially with social media – that’s usually the first thing I take a break from if I’m overwhelmed.
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Yes that’s so true! I didn’t recognise the signs until it was too late- lesson learned 🙂 thank you Kate, I’m glad to hear you have some positive, healthy habits in place x
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I think it’s great that you took so many great things from a not very nice time. Having the weekends free is definitely a game changer.
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Thank you! That’s how I like to think about it 🙂
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This is such an important post! So many of us can feel the burnout happening, but we don’t stop for a second. I was one of those a few months ago. Part-time study, blogging, writing, social media, running a home, looking after my family, it all became too much and in October. I realised I didn’t like the content I was creating, my personal writing or the message I was trying to create for my brand. None of it was meshing! It’s so crucial to your mental health to create a work/life balance. I’ve created better content moving forward, and plans for 2023 aren’t stressing me out as much. Excellent post! One we should all take notice of.
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Thank you Gemma! I completely agree, we don’t realise burn out is happening until it’s right on us- but noticing the signs can help. I’m sorry to hear you experienced burn out this year too, I hope you’re getting back into the swing of things now. I think producing content that you love is so important- and I’m glad plans for 2023 aren’t worrying you anymore. Thank you so much x
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Working from home isn’t that bad the only thing though as you said, you have to balance your home life with your work at home. I’m trying to get myself a remote job so I can sustain my blog includes buying more products so I can review and write about them. But this post is really informative –can’t wait to find myself a remote job! Manifest manifest! 🪬
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Yes, that balance is so important! That makes sense, I’m so glad you found the post helpful. Best wishes achieving everything you want this year x
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