Guest post by Alex Toll

People who’ve chosen freelancing as a career, or as a source of additional income, will admit that they often experience psychological pressure; sometimes unbearable.

Freelance writing is particularly challenging, and is distinct from other freelancing jobs, with its own idiosyncrasies, and concomitant strategies for coping with the stress. Why is this?

Well, from personal experience, I know that freelance writers, unlike freelance programmers/coders, seldom have a clear idea, ahead of time, of the scope and extent of an assignment. Apart from the requisite word count, the writer is often also faced with preliminary research.

This is both challenging and uncertain – A paper of 500 words might require hours of reading, or, worse still, obtaining a print resource. Unless the writer literally lives in a library, this can consume, at a minimum, a day or more to locate, never mind the time required to read and excavate it for quotes (if the book is even available at your local library at all!). Such a nightmarish assignment, for any writer unconnected to a research library, can end in disaster.
Eventually, many writers in such a situation realize that there is not enough time to deal with the demands of the order, and that they are doomed to failure and fines. This is deeply frustrating, and can cause the sort of unfocused anger which can affect attention, productivity, and family relationships. What can a writer do to avert this?

There are many ways to deal with work overload (assuming you can’t avoid that monster order in the first place). Remember that mind and body are inextricably linked. Your psychological health and your physical well-being cannot be disconnected from one another. This is why you need to ensure that both body and mind get adequate rest. This does not always mean sleeping.

Stress has long been recognized as affecting the entire organism: heartbeat speeds up, blood pressure rises (and falls) swiftly, glucose floods the bloodstream, calcium is liberated from bone tissue, and a host of other changes occur. A lot of freelance writers I know turn to their pantry to deal with those problems – and brew some green tea. It certainly sounds counter-intuitive, since all tea contains caffeine, a blood pressure raiser, but there is indeed evidence that green tea blocks salt uptake, and thus can actually lower blood pressure.

So, for many people drinking green tea may offer an undiscovered option for combating some of the physical tolls of overwork and stress. It can also be a relaxing drink, and if you are not sensitive to the caffeine, it might help you get to sleep. It is certainly worth looking into online, and checking with your health care practitioner as well, of course. In any case, it is a brisk and tasty way to make water more interesting!

Another effective tool to alleviate stress and work overload is your hobby or favorite pastime. When your brain is engaged in one activity for too long, without variety, especially when the activity is repetitive (such as typing) and intellectually challenging (such as researching), productivity can plummet. That is why your brain needs a distraction. It needn’t be time consuming: watching TV for 20 minutes, doing gentle, low-impact aerobics, jogging or walking vigorously around the block, listening to the news on the radio, or any other time-limited diversion is a good option. (Use a simple kitchen timer to prevent this brief break from stretching out into hours.)

If you go to a gym, then you will understand this concept immediately: after exercising one set of muscles to exhaustion, the ideal workout will involve challenging another muscle group. Otherwise, you get tired too fast, risk injury, have unbalanced muscular development, and stop enjoying exercising entirely. A mixture of moves allows for longer and more effective workouts. You can substitute “productive writing” for “effective workouts”, and see the parallel.

Another important issue which freelance writers face is the deadline. Even the word “deadline” itself evokes a negative image and sensation. For freelance writers, the deadline is ever-present, pressing from behind, looming up ahead, and creating constant pressure. A stressful situation, indeed!

How can you deal with the psychological pressure of the deadline? Easy! The logic here can be simple: it is often the case that writers who feel extraordinary pressure from deadlines are also dealing with time management issues throughout their personal and professional lives.

I’m not referring to extraordinary circumstances, the sort of personal issues which force you to leave your work. No, I’m talking about times when you imagine that you can accomplish it all, just by glancing at the topic. You allow yourself to be drawn into other tasks or diversions, and end up actually starting to accomplish the work way too close to the deadline. For writers who find themselves in this situation repeatedly, I advise planning your work as carefully as if you were an executive in a corner office with a secretary. Set up a schedule, use post-it notes everywhere to remind yourself and your household when you are supposed to set aside time for writing, and record this in your calendar. Ask your household to help you keep on track with your schedule, as well.

Furthermore, make it a habit to start on a job as soon as you can after being assigned. This way, you have a fighting chance of completing it and relaxing after a day of hard work, rather than facing an all-nighter of research and typing horror.

A final thought to keep in mind is that the deadline, and the pressure it exerts, should never interfere with quality. So do whatever it takes to relax, whether this means sipping a mug of green tea, or putting on the headphones to listen to your favorite music. Do what you need to in order to be able to concentrate fully on the information needed to complete your assignment in style =)

Wishing you all the best in all your future endeavors! Be healthy!

Alex Toll
Editor
Research Writing Center
Favorite Quote: “Knowledge is of no value, unless you put it into practice” – Anton Chekhov

Additional Writing Resources:

• Make Money From Home – Real Jobs You Can Do by Telecommuting
• Create Multiple Articles from Just One
• How to Write Your Own Ebook in 7 Days
• Freelance Writing Jobs