Burnout, Depression and The return of the Mac

[ezeomanwaneri]

So I quit my day job over a year ago to focus full time on building my business on and off fiverr. It’s been an incredible journey so far. The first few months of 2019 were my highest grossing months till date. That meant more work than I was used to handling. It wasn’t long before I got burned out. This affected the quality of work I produced and more importantly my happiness and mental health, leading to a brief spell of an intense depression. Bad work produces less work imo. My sales dropped!!!

I couldn’t believe I let things deteriorate so badly. The best thing I did was to take a break and reevaluate my whole process. I was able to deduce that the burnout was as a result of poor time management. I would usually wait until the last minute to start a project and by then I had other work lining up. This was a recipe for disaster.

I was able to fix the problem by setting up a structure I could follow religiously. I have gotten more efficient and my work-life balance in tip top shape. I’m Back!

Planning everything is the best way to go as a creative. I hope this helps someone out there!

[kerrimax]

Very interesting post. Glad to know things are going well for you. I would like to know more about how you got to managing your time. What is the secret? I have a similar post called Quick low quality vs Ample high quality. Most jobs we get on Fiverr are quick turnaround jobs that are rushy and so quality suffers. What is your method to this madness?

[humanissocial]

I’m a big believer in self-employment. But you can do that without totally relying solely on Fiverr. That’s a huge stressful gamble and it’s unnecessary.

You should never dive in totally into a freelance venture unless you understand the risks.

[ezeomanwaneri]

Very interesting post. Glad to know things are going well for you. I would like to know more about how you got to managing your time. What is the secret? I have a similar post called Quick low quality vs Ample high quality. Most jobs we get on Fiverr are quick turnaround jobs that are rushy and so quality suffers. What is your method to this madness?

Thank you. Yes I agree that quick turnaround can affect quality but doesn’t have to. You have to decide to make each day as productive as possible. First thing I did was to setup my working hours. My workdays (Monday-Friday ONLY) officially starts at 9am and ends at 4pm unlike before when I worked at random hours of the day and night. As an illustrator, I break each project into small manageable and measurable time-bond chunks. Example, brainstorm > resource gathering > sketch > inking > fine tuning. Another important thing is to make sure the client is updated on each step. I found out this drastically reduces the need for major revisions (which EVERYONE dreads) after final delivery. Finally, get help. Look for processes in your project you can outsource to other freelancers. Yes you might make less money but you’ll learn a very important skill, DELEGATION!

[ezeomanwaneri]

I’m a big believer in self-employment. But you can do that without totally relying solely on Fiverr. That’s a huge stressful gamble and it’s unnecessary.

You should never dive in totally into a freelance venture unless you understand the risks.

True. That’s why I have a creative agency still in infancy but growing.

[humanissocial]

True. That’s why I have a creative agency still in infancy but growing.

See, that’s something you can scale and your sales aren’t dependent on a marketplace over which you have little to no control.

It’s so important for freelancers to diversify! Good for you.

[kerrimax]

Thank you. Yes I agree that quick turnaround can affect quality but doesn’t have to. You have to decide to make each day as productive as possible. First thing I did was to setup my working hours. My workdays (Monday-Friday ONLY) officially starts at 9am and ends at 4pm unlike before when I worked at random hours of the day and night. As an illustrator, I break each project into small manageable and measurable time-bond chunks. Example, brainstorm > resource gathering > sketch > inking > fine tuning. Another important thing is to make sure the client is updated on each step. I found out this drastically reduces the need for major revisions (which EVERYONE dreads) after final delivery. Finally, get help. Look for processes in your project you can outsource to other freelancers. Yes you might make less money but you’ll learn a very important skill, DELEGATION!

Your method seems reasonable and practical. Thank you for revealing that. I could try that with some projects I receive. However, the downside is as you say less pay. To add to that delegating tasks can be a real challenge sometimes because again quality suffers if your seller does not deliver or sends in slapdash work which often times causes you to do the work yourself on top of extra work you’re already working on. This can be a real annoyance if you’re to meet a deadline or worse yet late on meeting it.

[ezeomanwaneri]

Your method seems reasonable and practical. Thank you for revealing that. I could try that with some projects I receive. However, the downside is as you say less pay. To add to that delegating tasks can be a real challenge sometimes because again quality suffers if your seller does not deliver or sends in slapdash work which often times causes you to do the work yourself on top of extra work you’re already working on. This can be a real annoyance if you’re to meet a deadline or worse yet late on meeting it.

Haha I totally understand but there’s no escaping the fact that we have to deal with fellow humans especially if you want to create a company that employs.

[genuineguidance]

Haha I totally understand but there’s no escaping the fact that we have to deal with fellow humans especially if you want to create a company that employs.

I am glad that you took a break and feel better now.

I am one who deals with the procrastination bug too - I just have a hard time with sticking to a schedule - I always get distracted and find myself wandering off to some other thing. I get things done, but, the stress I put on myself by procrastinating is annoying. In some ways, I wonder if my personality just enjoys the stress or being under pressure to get something done.

GG