The Five Stages of Freelancer' Downtime

The Five Stages of Grief Freelancer' Downtime

It's been more than a year since my last post and for this there are a few reasons. I will no doubt touch upon my personal escapades over those silent months within this and future posts but for now I am going to take some time to discuss the subject of "Freelancer' Downtime".

Over the past few months I've been fortunate to have been one of those freelancers whom fills their diary with many exciting projects and assignments however this success now seems to be at a lull. This has been my first period of downtime where I've had a chance to notice the effects upon my mind and emotions. I've seemingly got to a better place with this now which is why I will share this post.


The thoughts and opinions in this post may not be appropriate for your situation and you may already have a tried and tested action plan which works for you. I share this advice for those that may struggle as it may offer some direction as to how to cope with the quiet times. Nonetheless, I may in the future consult this for self-counselling knowing that I will benefit from this current wisdom.

There is a psychological concept known as the Kübler Ross Model  . This model hypothesises that there are 5 stages of grief experienced in patients that have been informed of their terminal illness. Although my opinion is certainly open to criticism, I believe that there are many alternative uses to how the theory can be applied. I have experienced a Near Death Experience (which may be worth discussing another time) and this model was more than insignificantly accurate towards the feelings which I experienced during that time. Other philosophers and scribes have discussed that the Kübler model can be applied to depression and relationship breakups. By definition and perspective to all of these opinions, I believe that I have discovered the common theme; that -

These feelings are felt in moments of a seemingly endless dread. They are felt in moments where the subject is transitioning through what they conceptualise as a seemingly impossible to overcome yet unpleasant situation. However, there is still hope as even in the case of the terminal illness 'hope' could be that the transition will conclude positively. In all of these examples it's not as much the ending rather that the subject is conscious of a transition and their limited control over returning that to a harmonious stasis.

For this reason I have created an action plan based around this model and look at how the five stages of grief may be adapted to be of personal benefit in other seemingly unharmonious situations such as, in my current circumstance, 'Freelancer Downtime'. 

Denial
Stage one is Denial. It's the order of things that if you are self employed, you will always have quieter times. If you're reading this during a quiet period you'll probably have forgotten about all of the other, now less significant, quieter times that you have always had. Maybe you had times where you worked weekends or bank holidays but now you don't; maybe sometimes you got 12 hours pay in a day but now you only get 10; maybe you used to have Tuesdays catered for but now that's not in the diary. The point is that it's all relative and therefore natural to experience a certain amount of denial when things begin to differ to the norm but the truth is you are self employed and that constancy of security was never promised or contracted from the outset. It's only by your own definition that you will overcome denial based on the aspirations that you expect to attain. 


There is a change; the quicker that you are aware of this the quicker you can start planning.

Anger
Perhaps anger is not the most similar emotion to describe what I felt next but it's possible. You may think that if your regular clients stop calling that you have done something incorrect, something unprofessional or you have personally offended them. You're a brand unto yourself so when things go wrong it's easy to jump to the conclusion that this is because of something you've done. Whereas this is not impossible; it is highly unlikely and if you dwell on any of this, it could make you angry with yourself. If you've had any successful period of self employment you should be confident that it's not you. Remember there are so many possible reasons which you are not aware of that make these thoughts nothing more than paranoia. I would prefer to call this stage 'Panic'.

Don't panic, it's not constructive.

Bargaining
When you find yourself experiencing this, be careful! Be confident that before you act, you aren't still in any sense of panic. The panic will not help you to make wise, professional decisions and you may start to sell yourself short or consider packing it all in and doing something else. If you're definitely not still feeling the effects of stage 2 (anger/panic) then you can sensibly negotiate with your clients. Unless you genuinely feel that you are over priced for what you bring to your industry (for the level at which you market yourself), then you should probably stick with your prices and not change the day rate at all. At all times, serious analysis of your business model should be considered before selling your time at a higher or lower rate than before. Consider other avenues of work that will help you progress your career by improving your skillset, career sidestepping or getting some training. Although you're unlikely to realise it at this stage, it may be equally valid for you to use the time to concentrate on your own projects.

Politely let past clients know that you are available for work. Consider extending your client network.

Depression
Even after all this, if you're still not getting any work it could become really disheartening. You have to fight through this otherwise you'll be trapped up-unto this stage forever. It might be really difficult to get out of the loop but there are much more beneficial actions you should get on with rather than feeling sorry for yourself. Again, this could feel overwhelming but you have to take steps to move on from the bewilderment. The sadness is felt during the transition which is only a finite moment in between two other states of being. Remember a transition is only temporary. Take action to improve your situation and hope for a better outcome even if, right now, you can't conceptualise that there ever could be an improvement. There is always hope and positivity is the key to getting through this.

Analyse and update your business model, CV or portfolio.

Acceptance
Whilst you continue taking positive action to improve your situation there's not much else you can do but accept it. This is a great moment because when you truly accept things then you know that you are doing the best you can. It's your best effort at surviving in the environment where you find yourself. If you still don't arrive at the acceptance stage then this is your mind telling you there is still more you can do and that there are still more positive steps that you can take. 'Actionable steps' may not even be based around work, for example; you could reduce expenditure if income is a concern, you could use the free time to be with important people in your lives, you can pursue your own personal interests (for me I've enjoyed writing this blog). Acceptance doesn't mean that your situation has improved or that you are back in work, it just means that the transition is over. This new state is at least comfortable even if it is not as desirable. When at the acceptance stage, there isn't really anything more that you can do which you aren't already. Continue to monitor the situation though as it could change again and if it does you're going to need to take another look at that business model.

Relax. Opportunity will call.

@aknightstales

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