Surviving Lockdown as a Freelancer

We’ve been in lockdown for what feels like 3,000 years. Future generations won’t look back on this in history books, because they’ll be under a tier system that limits their book usage based on their shoe size and hair colour.

Remember the first lockdown? It was much easier to handle as an office worker. It was sunny, people were making banana bread and we were a bit excited to abandon the office. Lots of us even got to swap co-workers for pets. We clapped on the streets and all was well.

Well, it wasn’t well. It was terrifying and the mental health and death toll on this country was (and still is) massive. There also wasn’t a toilet roll to be seen on the shelves, but all in all, if you weren’t ill with COVID or suffering in any meaningful way as a result of lockdown, it had that novelty value that made it manageable for the most part.

Now though, it’s much different.

Nobody’s clapping and the idea makes people swear. Nurses and doctors are fucked. It’s dark when you wake up and dark by about two in the afternoon. It’s freezing so you can’t even sit in the garden with a barbecue, and the cat is really starting to get on your last nerve.

I actually started my business as a result of working from home in Lockdown 1. I thought that since I was working at home for someone else I might as well do it for myself.

You think lockdown is your ally? I was born in it. Moulded by it.

So, I’ve decided to put together some top survival tips for freelancers to thrive under the lockdown measures in the UK.

Government-Mandated Exercise

The government, in all their wisdom, say you’re allowed outside to exercise once a day.

I understand it’s hard to trust people who gave us discounts to go and eat food in restaurants a few months ago and limited the deal to exclusively eating indoors with other people, but I’d recommend taking them up on this offer.

I know it’s freezing, and I know you’re bored with your local area. But it’s always good to get out of the house if just for a little bit, even if it’s just a twenty-minute walk to the shop for a pasty.

It’s worth doing and the mental health benefits of exercise and fresh air can be game-changing.

Separate Work Time and Leisure Time

I can work pretty well without a schedule, but I would recommend setting at least a time limit to how much you work each day.

It seems fine because your laptop is just there, but it’s nice to separate your work time and leisure time, especially if you’re stuck in the same building all day. If you don’t, you don’t switch off, and you don’t need more reasons to be stressed right now.

This one is probably just a general freelancer tip, but in my opinion, everything is amplified to the power of offit thanks to the pandemic, so the effects of this one are amplified, too.

Read a Book

Apparently, UK folks are spending a quarter of their day online thanks to lockdown.

This is understandable as the options are limited, but we will emerge with squares for eyes if we don’t give it a rest.

I’ve recently got properly into George Saunders, and I’d recommend his short stories if you’re looking to ease yourself into reading with some semi-apocalyptic dystopian genius. There are obviously lots of fantastic authors out there so take some time to find one that you love, and sit down with a nice pile of books.

There’s only so much Twitter your mind can take without wanting to Guy Fawkes a Government building.

Cook

Cooking is proper mint, you know. YouTube is brimming with mad little cooks making stuff and you can learn so much for free it’s incredible.

So stop doom scrolling and reading about how shambolic everything is and pick up a wok! Or something.

I recommend Mina Rome and her YouTube channel. She’s this young German girl who makes really tasty vegan food and makes it all seem so very simple. Get on it.

Help Out (if you can)

I know this is just a daft blog post, but COVID is really serious and terrible for a lot of people.

You think being bored is a struggle? What about people struggling with poverty, homelessness, domestic abuse, being poorly but struggling to get treatment, what about the elderly or the lonely?

And that’s without mentioning actual COVID sufferers, nurses, and doctors. Never mind the postman and binman!

There are loads of people that need help during this pandemic, so go to your local foodbank and get in touch with local charities to help out if you can.

And if you’re dealing with the crisis as your job, you sit back and put your feet up you absolute legend.

Don’t Work Where You Chill

When I started working from home in my actual nine to five, I worked where I chilled.

So I would sit there on the settee, all day, on my laptop writing and doing work stuff. Then at five o’clock, I’d put it down and without moving, I would stick the tele on.

This seemed like a fantastic idea but realistically it wasn’t.

My daily step count was about 6 and I put on a shit load of weight. It’s also terrible from a mental health perspective because you literally haven’t moved all day.

It’s not good. So move.

Watch The Sopranos

It’s really good, honestly.

I know I just said abandon your screens and read a book, but I’ve watched five series of The Sopranos and read about 3 books in the past six months, so I am a bit of a hypocrite.

So yeah, watch The Sopranos.

Cut Yourself Some Slack

There’s quite a bit of pressure on you if you’re a freelancer, mainly because if you don’t complete your work, you don’t get paid.

But don’t stress. We’re dealing with a pretty rare scenario and getting through the days is often difficult enough.

I think a lot of us have become a bit desensitized to the fact we’re living through a global pandemic at the minute, and we can be quite harsh on ourselves for not being the most productive.

Relax! Give yourself a pat on the back for getting up this morning and approach your work with a bit of positivity.

Be kind to yourself and don’t add more stress to what is already an incredibly stressful time.

Anything Else?

Let me know.

And if you want some writing doing or social media managing, drop me an email at james@writeocreative.co.uk