Tips and tricks for a happy, healthy freelance life

My live interview with ProCopywriters – the professional association for copywriters in the UK – focused on the wellbeing aspects of freelance life…

…the ups and downs, the importance of boundaries and balance, the need for community and the importance of asking for help. All topics covered in my guide to freelance life, Survival Skills for Freelancers.

Ready? Let’s go.

Q Welcome to #ProCopyChat, Sarah! Tell us a bit about yourself.

A Hello! I’ve been a freelance marketing copywriter for 20+ years.

I love freelance life, but it took me the best part of 15 years to get good at the business end of it – and I made a lot of mistakes along the way.

I’ve written a book for freelancers – Survival Skills for Freelancers – to share my experience and help freelancers get more enjoyment from self-employment.

Q Sounds great! Can you tell us a bit more about the book for freelancers, and how it came about?

A Sure! Most of us decide to go freelance because we have a skill we want to share. In most cases, we’re utterly unprepared for how relentless the business end of freelance life can be – let alone the challenges freelancing can present to our mental health.

The book is designed to help freelancers become more successful by working smarter, not harder – and to learn from the things I’ve done that worked, as well as the things that didn’t.

It’s a combination of real-life, heart-on-your-sleeve anecdotes and tried and tested advice – all backed up by research, resources and quotes from 120 freelancers.

And now there’s a brand new 2025 edition.

Q How and why did you become a freelancer?

A I was working as an editor and account manager for a magazine publisher in Clifton, Bristol when I became pregnant.

I knew I didn’t want to go back to full-time work, and liked the idea that I could fit freelance work around family life. My employer promised to provide work to keep me going, so it seemed like a good decision.

I worked on my brand and sent out cold enquiries while I was on maternity leave, then worked three days a week while my daughter was at nursery.

My business grew as my family grew. And here I am – now with grown-up kids – still loving freelance life.

Q What do you believe are the most important qualities to make it as a freelancer?

A I don’t think you have to be a particular type of person to make a successful freelancer. There are always exceptions. But there are traits that help and others that hinder.

Skills and talent alone aren’t enough to guarantee success.

It helps if you’re determined, motivated, organised, ambitious, disciplined, confident, outgoing, flexible, reliable, personable, patient, thick-skinned… it’s a pretty long list!

Q What would you say to anyone reading that list who knows they don’t have all those qualities?

A Don’t worry too much. No one will tick off every quality on the list.

If you don’t have any of them, you might struggle more than most – but I’m neither patient nor thick-skinned and I haven’t let that hold me back!

Q Isolation is a real challenge for many freelancers. How do you recommend we deal with it?

A It absolutely is. So many of the freelancers I talk to loved the idea of working from home but found themselves completely unprepared for the loneliness! It’s easy to feel like no one understands what you’re going through – but they do!

Connection is vital when you’re freelance, and there are three fundamental ways to find it:

• online communities (like this one, or the many Facebook groups that exist for freelancers)
• networking groups and events
• coworking spaces and coffee shop working

The great thing about the online community is that it spills out into real life with events and conferences.

It’s possible to make great real-life friendships with people who are in the same boat as you.

People who really get it.

Q How have you dealt with the unpredictability of freelance life over the years?

A You never really get used to the peaks and troughs of freelancing.

Quiet spells are pretty rare for me now, but I still keep a list of projects I want to work on, blogs I want to write and books I want to read, in case work drops off.

Having too much work can be just as problematic as not having enough, though.

Either you work yourself into the ground, boundaries go out the window and your mental health suffers as a result, or you can do what I do – have an arrangement with a small team of trusted freelancers who you can pass work on to when you need to.

You’re solving the problem for your client and helping another freelancer into the bargain.

Q There’s a lot of talk about imposter syndrome. Do you suffer from it, and how do you deal with it?

A Yes, absolutely – even now.

Self-doubt can hold you back if you let it, so don’t let the fear of failure get in your way. Celebrate your wins – even the little things – so you can see how far you’ve come. And don’t compare yourself to others!

It’s easy to put things off if you keep striving for perfection but there’ll never be a right time and you’ll never be completely prepared. Just do the best that you can do.

Sometimes good enough really is good enough.

Q You have a chapter in your book about avoiding burnout. Can you share a few tips here?

A Freelancer burnout is something I feel very strongly about and I go into a fair bit of detail about it in the book.

In a nutshell, it’s about setting boundaries, asking for help, learning to say no, and taking simple steps to look after yourself.

It takes time to learn what works for you, but most people need fresh air, exercise, a balanced diet and decent quality sleep as a minimum.

It sounds obvious, but if you’re not feeling your best you can’t do your best work.

Above all, it’s important to know that it’s okay not to be okay.

You’re not alone, you’re not the only one who feels this way, and you are perfectly normal. Respect your boundaries, prioritise your own wellbeing, and keep talking!

Q Where can we get hold of your book for freelancers? 

A The 2025 edition of Survival Skills for Freelancers – which busts the eight myths of freelance life – is available on Amazon worldwide in paperback and Kindle. The original 2020 edition is still available on Audible.