The Freelancers' Show
The Freelancers' Show
#freelancing #freelancers #business #productivity #business #management

Weekly discussion by freelancers and professionals about running a business, finding clients, marketing, and lifestyle related to being a freelancer.

Episode 311: FS 299: Beyond Burnout - How to Work Hard and Enjoy Life with Dr. Sherry Walling

May 31, 2018 56:55 54.67 MB Downloads: 0

Panel:

  • Jeremy Green
  • Jonathan Stark
  • Reuven Lerner

Special Guest: Sherry Walling, Ph.D.

In this episode of the Freelancer’s Show, the panel discusses: “Beyond Burnout - How to Work Hard and Enjoy Life.” Dr. Sherry Walling is a licensed clinical psychologist with extensive experience treating stress-related problems in high achieving people. She is an academic and professional powerhouse with master’s degrees in psychology and theology, formal training as a yoga teaching, and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. For more biographical information, please checkout: https://zenfounder.com/about/.

In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

  • How to Prioritize Your Life
    • Great start – you found something that you love to do as far as work!
    • Have a variety of things going on in your life.
    • Have backup strategies in play.
    • “Make it big plan” is a low frequency event.
  • Are there areas where freelancers chronically under invest in?
    • Sleep
    • Diet
    • Exercise
      • It’s easy to neglect your body.
    • Time with friends
      • Connecting you with human beings.
      • Connections with online friends are great, but real-life friendships are better for mental health because we connect better with three-dimensional people.
  • If you make the investments into yourself (sleeping, eating well, exercising) this will better your business.
    • This notion of should or shouldn’t do X, Y, Z.
    • Paul Jarris’ newsletter: Defining What Enough Is For You?
    • Budgeting together as a family.
      • Gives you a clear sense of what “enough” is for you and your family.
    • Examples:
      • Elon Musk
        • Works 24/7 and is CEO of many companies.
        • Admired by many, but lifestyle seems toxic to some.
        • Wisdom is knowing your own personal limits.
      • Silicon Valley, CA
      • Patrick Collison
        • Humble person
        • Dr. Walling was very impressed on how aware he is as a person.
        • He recognizes that the right events were in-place and he put in the work, too.
    • Burnout – different stages and things we can do to address burnout
      • Burnout is a syndrome where people feel detached from their work. They feel like their input does not equal their output.
      • It’s subjective.
      • It’s caused by too much work, feeling out-of-control in your work, a mismatch of daily tasks versus what needs to be done, not enough support, and working with clients who are emotionally draining, etc.
      • Scientifically we can view a brain that is burned-out.
      • Other health problems can arise due to stress.
      • We know how to prevent it and how people can recover.
      • It could take a few weeks in order to regain a healthy lifestyle to recover from burnout.
      • Road to recovery
      • 30% of adults experience burnout in some point in their life.
      • Dr. Christina Maslach
        • Her research is focused on burnout.
      • Time is finite and life is finite.
        • You will choose things that are more gratifying for you and your life.
      • Sometimes we forget the “love” piece.
        • I choose to do the activities that really bring me joy.
        • This will help with the longevity of your business.
        • Not things that you feel like you “should.”
        • Listen to the emotional quality to your work to help prevent potential burnout.
      • Hobbies
        • If you have some hobbies like yoga, fishing, painting, baking, knitting etc. it can definitely help prevent burnout.
        • Hobbies are good for a sense of accomplishment.
          • Mastery and it feeds your soul.
    • Protecting Personal Relationships
      • Rhythms and structures in our relationships.
        • Regularity of date night once a week (for example) helps establishing this routine.
        • The same is true for friendships.
      • Find a good mentor.
        • Grow together and it’s great for psychological support.
      • Fitness goals
        • If you don’t use it, you will loose it.
        • This gets more important the older you get.

Links:

Sponsors:

Picks:

Jonathan Stark

Jeremy Green

Philip Morgan – Positioning Manual

Rueven Lerner

Dr. Sherry Walling