As a result of evolving technological trends that have enabled millions of people worldwide to pursue this kind of profession, freelance journalism is growing in popularity.
Given the chance to work from anywhere and make money, becoming a freelance writer or journalist has become a more and more common career choice. It is with difficulties and dangerous situations, though.
When engaged in a project, many freelancers frequently experience anxiety since they are unsure of their potential for success or potential to affect their audience negatively. Typically, during the learning process, obstacles may arise, such as financial difficulties, lower gig economy, less side hustle, and low pay. Thus, talking about these problems with friends, family, or professionals is a must.
Since anxiety is the core of your overall health, it is critical to recognize how important it is to manage both your mental and physical health. However, you must first detect and pinpoint the causes of freelance journalists’ concerns.
Thinking You’re Not Good Enough
With the freelance market being a community of skilled and talented individuals, creating a startup business and landing a job becomes a tough battle. With that, usually, as a writer, you would often start out asking yourself if you are good enough, especially because you know that the competition in the freelance world is tight.
There are a lot of talented writers out there who are for sure better than you or at least know things the same as you. Constantly thinking about this can put pressure on your mind in all aspects. It can instill fear and depression at the same hours.
When you become too worried about your skills or writing ability, you would question even your best asset or even begin to develop imposter syndrome. Sadly, this is not an ideal habit, especially when you know you can also do what others can do.
The fear and anxiety about being “not good enough” is a distraction that somehow takes you away from your ultimate goal: to expand your horizons and become one of the best journalists in the freelance life.
Taking Too Many Roles
Certain responsibilities come with being a freelancer that most employees would find too time-consuming. If you do not contract out these tasks, you will have your own personal accountant, professional assistant, and planner.
You may be surprised to learn how difficult it may be to balance your client’s job with all the other things in the background while you operate as a freelancer. You should anticipate experiencing uncontrollable anxiousness when you have a demanding client on top of the pressures of freelancing writing.
You will undoubtedly feel more inclined to let go and stop caring about your client, your boss, or your work. However, these may also exacerbate your current mental health problem.
You have a lot of responsibilities as a freelancer. It’s up to you to oversee the day-to-day operations to complete tasks. You must keep tabs on and oversee your finances, compensate other freelancers you recruit, organize your work, make and send bills, interact with clients, plan ahead of time, and finish the tasks at hand!
Your mental health deteriorates when you are unable to handle everything at once. You will feel more motivated to give up and cease caring about your job, client, or supervisor. These, nevertheless, can also make your existing mental health issues worse. You may suffer from inadequate sleep, you won’t be able to give yourself a break, and of course, you’ll focus on putting your feelings on the line.
Having Problems Managing Your Time
You and many other freelancers working throughout the entire world (whether they are living abroad) have the same issue. One of those is that when you operate virtually from another location that isn’t designated as a workspace, keeping your business account and personal life apart might be challenging.
Because of the anxiousness in your head, you frequently find yourself attempting incessantly and unsuccessfully to give up on the tasks at hand since you cannot manage your time well. You might even consider yourself a failure if you can’t talk about the issues and can’t figure out how to accomplish things your way, to the point where you shut yourself in your room and stop communicating with your loved ones.
As a freelancer, time management is usually a problem, especially when clients are (again) extremely demanding. Multiply it by five, and you have a client who needs you to always respond to them. That will be the motif of “all hell breaks loose” for you.
Regretfully, the majority of independent contractors find it difficult to maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life, and this issue lies at the core of many or most of their psychological problems. Be aware that defining the hazy boundary between your house and place of employment can be challenging. It’s easier to mentally get away from work if your home and workplace are separate significantly.
Dealing With Writer’s Block
At some point in their lives, most writers deal with and encounter writer’s block at different phases of the writing journey. These lead to issues. One common roadblock that worsens the more you work on it is writer’s block. You try to sit down at your work surface, look at your computer, and force yourself to write anything because you know you have to write. Just get anything going, but the words still need to appear. You probably won’t write at all the longer you sit there feeling angry that you’re not writing stories. You may need help and support with how to begin the story, or you may lose steam in the latter stages of the chapter. That might be upsetting and anxious-inducing, particularly if you’re on a deadline.
You undoubtedly want things to be perfect before you write anything down or use a keyboard. You never start because you keep trying to make things flawless in your mind. But the struggle is real, and you can’t just convince yourself to write something because you know you have to.
What You Can Do To Overcome Writer’s Block
The method of getting past writer’s block is sensitive, individualized, and frequently quite emotional. Some issues about its cause are sometimes out of your control. Unfortunately, you can’t just get rid of it in an instant. Ultimately, it comes down to overcoming self-doubt and having faith that one’s efforts will be rewarded.
Here are some of the things you can do.
Getting To Know Yourself
Understanding your natural working style might help you in finding a job where you thrive. Determining what suits you will take time to figure out. Some freelance writers with anxiety, for example, may find that working in a busy newsroom allows them to put their worries aside and focus entirely on their full time work, whereas others can’t imagine anything worse.
Conversely, you shouldn’t necessarily give something up completely if you truly love it but discover that some parts of it make you anxious. It’s uncommon to find the right fit right away, so it doesn’t always imply you shouldn’t try your hand at journalism just because you thought you were failing at it.
If the first assignment you have as a freelance writer isn’t what you desire or is not something you are comfortable working on, that’s okay. Don’t let that stop you. List what you enjoy and dislike, and then work to fit a career into that.
Seeking Help From Others
When your anxiety starts to make sense, you may need outside assistance to become well. You may often feel unworthy because of things like thinking back on your previous experiences, attempting to solve problems pertaining to your freelance work, and planning for growth. These may cause you to shy away from journalism entirely.
Sometimes, there’s still an additional issue even after you’ve arrived and begun your profession as a freelance journalist. Maybe the idea of trying to live up to the expectations of a publisher was just so depressing that it made you lose interest in becoming a journalist and made your anxiety unbearably intense.
Thankfully, asking for assistance is acceptable in that situation. Some editors or other authors would be happy to help when you’re having trouble. You just have to try to connect with them because sometimes they only want you to reach out.
Developing Mechanism To Cope
Ten percent of anxiety comes from experiences, and ninety percent comes from reactions. Looking closely, you’ll see that nothing reduces tension and anxiety more quickly than doing something. Let’s face it. Writing is a creative and intimate process.
Anxiety starts to surface When you devote all your time, energy, and ideas to your writing. You fear that a potential client won’t recognize the passion and effort you dedicate to your writing. Naturally, this is not going to occur. Although it’s unlikely that you’ll hear back from a possibility, the worry persists.
You may always establish helpful and healthy coping techniques if you suffer from intense anxiety. There is regular exercise. Exercise lowers stress levels and enhances immune system health and cognitive performance. In addition, there are other artistic endeavors like dancing, crafting, drawing, or anything else that helps you decompress when you’re not writing.
Final Thoughts And Takeaways
Gaining experience as a freelance writer will greatly reduce your worry because it’s comparable to programming yourself. You know yourself, your capabilities, and your limitations.
However, you may need to think about getting professional help and speak with a therapist or counselor if anxiety takes precedence. Take action because you know that your anxiety is preventing you from succeeding as a freelance writer, not because you believe there is something wrong with you.
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