Read on Twitter
Freelancing in India + Mental health: a thread on the good, the bad, the evil.
Freelancing and self-employment (even entrepreneurs or business people working alone) work without strict routines and almost always have more on their plate than they can attend to. Mental health starts sliding when the lack of community/colleagues becomes jarring.
For the self-employed, a large chunk of time goes into creating sustainability, but they can't even get time to sit down for a meal, support system unless they explicitly ask, peer interaction is conspicuously absent. (+ point: no office gossips & jibes, which – a good thing)
Another plus on the mental health scale: have some say in your routines & deadlines. Working for an agency meant I was on deadlines every working moment. As a freelancer, I govern which days I'll allow deadlines to stress me. (Its a trigger for other issues –so we kinda win here)
If you're someone with decades of experience in your field switching to freelancing, a few things are better – but the rocky grounds of pay still hold. If you're a freelancing early on in your career, build resilience.
Working hours: India is infamous for its grisly work schedules, lack of work-life balance. It gets worse for underpaid freelancers who then end up working 12+ hours per day, 7 days a week to be able to retain clients, juggle projects - bye bye family/friends.
Pay irregularities are the #1 stressor.
As a result, freelancers give up & often work below decent rates. So if we are talking about financial instability as a mental health crisis, consider the crisis amplified for the self-employed: https://elemental.medium.com/financial-instability-is-a-mental-health-crisis-b1c0222855d1
As a result, freelancers give up & often work below decent rates. So if we are talking about financial instability as a mental health crisis, consider the crisis amplified for the self-employed: https://elemental.medium.com/financial-instability-is-a-mental-health-crisis-b1c0222855d1
Timely payments: we don't have a payday. We don't get a monthly salary. More often than not, we have to *beg* people to send us the money THEY OWE US for the work we've already done. Often, we don't get paid for as long as years – or, worse, ever.
And if a pandemic strikes, contracts get frozen, you have to be extra productive in scanning for clients when what you really need is a break. India doesn't have provisions for freelancer insurance, benefits etc. If you don't *hustle* for work, you're doomed.
The operative word, however, is "uncertainty". When things change, it might as well mean opportunity for you as a freelancer. https://resetfest.com/a-double-edged-sword-how-the-pandemic-is-affecting-freelancers/
As a young freelancer, when I have to deal with clients much elder to me, they gatekeep my ability to have an open conversation on money by playing the age card. "bachhe we will send the money when the project is approved to the last step",
like I could not be financially responsible for a family just because I am young. It's the worst, because they eliminate the option of being professional with them.
Burnout: the result of long working hours, underpaid work and absolutely no job security? Getting flooded under loads of paperwork while barely making ends meet. Freelancers are almost always on the brink of a burnout, but barely ever able to take an off. It's a vicious cycle.
Imposter syndrome kicks in when you're pricing yourself. Unless there's a community and support system guiding you on whether you're pricing yourself reasonably, self-doubt is always high. https://contently.net/2019/02/14/resources/career-advice/self-wellness/how-freelancers-can-battle-imposter-syndrome/
Bad day at work? Freelancers are entrepreneurial, they could take it to heart, with no colleagues to share their worries with. The silent treatment from clients/prospective clients doesn't help.
Here's the thing: if you don't want to hire a freelancer who pitched for you (esp for long-term contracts) don't keep them hanging. They'd move on, but they need to KNOW they're supposed to move on. Don't haggle. There are better ways of telling them you can't afford them.
This is not to say that freelancing is only ever highly stressful – it doesn't have to be. But being well-networked and having names/brands behind you, backing your portfolio, can help. All the admin work, creative work, management – It's all mentally exhausting.
Community can make all the difference. So can better systems, better contracts, better approaches and higher professionalism when companies hire freelancers. I've said a lot.
I'll add resources for freelancers to this thread soon.
I'll add resources for freelancers to this thread soon.
