021. What are the absolute highlights of working how you do?
Every issue of Moment comes with a question designed to gently nudge you towards working well: making your mental health part of your self-employed business plan.
021. What are the absolute highlights of working how you do?
I’m well aware that, at times, I can be guilty of shining a light on the more challenging aspects of self-employment. After all, a big part of looking after your mental health at work is understanding the negative influences and mitigating their impact upon how you’re doing.
But it’s just as important to be aware of and recognise the positive influences - to understand and remember the things which help you feel better, and often, the reasons why you work in this way.
Not everyone chose to be self-employed. In our 2019 research, over 16% of people hadn’t chosen to be freelance, but couldn’t find a perm role. In 2020, as a result of the pandemic, the reasons for moving to self-employment are likely to increasingly include furlough, redundancy and loss of earnings.
But whatever the reason for working how you do, reflecting upon the absolutely positively wonderful aspects, and understanding what they are, and recognising when they happen, is a powerful tool to get some context on those days where things aren’t going so well.
Our community mentions control, flexibility, autonomy, being able to say no, not having to seek permission, being able to push harder and develop further, working around other obligations, being more selective of what projects you want to work on, feeling more able to be yourself in a world which often favours the ‘mean’.
They’re the big ones. But equally, the small things really matter too: being able to go for a walk, make a cuppa, see a friend during the day, pick up some groceries, or just a sense of calm.
For this week’s Moment, take a little time to think on the big and small highlights of the way you work. Note them down. Keep them somewhere, perhaps in a notebook or your working wellbeing plan. Each time you come across another positive highlight, capture it. Over time, you’ll have built a catalogue of the highlights which you experience working independently - and can even start to design the way you work around encouraging them to happen more often.
WORKING WELLBEING PLAN: TASK
Add a page to your working wellbeing plan called “Highlights”. Split the page into two halves, and label it “big” and “small”.
On the “big” side, list as many of the things which are really valuable and important to you. On the “small” side, list as many of the little things which just put a smile on your face.
Use the “small” side to continue to capture little moments as you go through the year.
Use the “big” side to reflect back on your year, or when you’re feeling frustrated with work, to contextualise things.
Leave a comment below to share your reflections,
or visit Leapers to discuss the question further.
Things we read this week:
Fresh Fund | Supporting young Black founders - Courier
Cognitive flexibility is the key to learning and creativity - theconversation.com
How dropboxers are taking back the freedom to decline meetings - Medium
Roles on the Radar helps you see what you should focus on next - Medium
Why communicating your Culture to freelancers matters more - Leapers
Self-employed and contractors should prepare for National Insurance tax hikes - Freelance Informer
Monzo CEO on his mental health as an entrepreneur - Diary of a CEO