Today is one of those days. We all have them—days when we’re shattered and can’t concentrate on a single thing for more than a few minutes, when that horrible stressed feeling starts to swirl around in our stomachs making it even harder to sit still and stare at the screen. Days when we realise that it JUST ISN’T HAPPENING no matter how hard we try and how much we will our brains to get in gear and produce something, anything, on the page. But, the beauty of being a freelancer is that it doesn’t matter.
If you’re having one of those days there’s no point getting stressed about it—just accept the fact that you won’t produce anything even remotely coherent and take some time off instead. A few hours, an afternoon or even a whole day, whatever works for you. You’ll have a chance to recharge and you’ll go back to it feeling far more refreshed than you otherwise would, and I’ve realised that it really is the only solution to feeling this way. Getting stressed out is entirely counterproductive and will simply leave you even less able to function, so embrace the flexible working concept and take a break (unless, of course, you’ve got pressing deadlines, in which case SIT AT THAT COMPUTER UNTIL YOU FEEL MADNESS CREEPING IN). That’s what I’m doing for the rest of the day. To the couch, with a book and a cup of tea in hand—much better.
