Working as a freelancer is many things. It offers unparalleled freedom, control over your work, and the ability to work from wherever you are; but that does not mean that it’s all easy breezy the entire time.
There are more than a few challenges to freelance work, unpredictable income, isolation, overworking and struggling to remain motivated, all amount to some people really struggling to enjoy freelance work.
For many, the stresses of a gig economy can lead to burnout, anxiety, self doubt and a myriad of other mental health issues. This is where cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, comes in.
Get Weekly Freelance Gigs via Email
Enter your freelancing address and we’ll send you a FREE curated list of freelance jobs in your top category every week.
Using CBT tools and techniques can help you tackle the issues that freelancing brings to bear. You can reshape your mindset and tackle the mental roadblocks that arise as you go, but it is something that requires a little work and no small amount of practice.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways that CBT reframing can help you thrive in your freelancing career.
Understanding Behavioral Change Therapy
CBT, otherwise referred to as behavioral change therapy, is designed to target the areas of the brain that create unhelpful thinking patterns. CBT allows individuals to overcome the thoughts and habits that lead to negative behaviors before they even start.
As a freelancer you’ll become all too familiar with rejection, it’s part of the gig economy after all, which can lead to thoughts like:
- “I’ll never get more clients”
- “Maybe my work is not good enough”
These kinds of thoughts can develop into mental blocks that hold you back from taking opportunities, or worse, lead to mental health issues.
CBT teaches you to challenge these intrusive thoughts, replacing them with more constructive and realistic ones. Although it’s not always as straightforward as simply trying to think differently.
According to White River Manor, there are a few different ways to approach CBT, depending on the issues at hand and your personal goals. CBT therepy generally includes:
- Identifying specific problems or difficulties affecting your freelance work or daily life.
- Becoming aware of negative thought patterns holding you back.
- Understanding how these negative thought patterns impact your life.
- Identifying unhelpful thinking and reframing to change how you feel and work.
- Learning new behaviors and putting them into practice.
Use the power of CBT to shift your perspective from a helpless and negative pattern to a strong thought process, over which you have control.
One of the key things freelancers often report as being a major struggle, is a lack of self-discipline and structure. After all, there is no boss to keep things on track, no commute to the office, no set times for work, and in some cases, smaller repercussions for missed deadlines.
Finding the motivation to remain structured and on task is not an easy thing to do. But luckily, there are a few CBT tools and techniques that can help you go from struggling to remain on task, to ticking off ‘to do’ list items left, right and center.
Journaling and goal setting can be a great task to help begin your day. It will help you to set out a rough structure to follow and give you the motivation to complete some of your objectives on time.
As you journal your processes throughout the day you’ll be able to begin to spot patterns of self-sabotage that can be addressed straight away. You’ll also start to notice some of the triggers for distraction, as well as when the negative thoughts start to creep in.
If you’re struggling to keep on top of multiple tasks, or one large project, breaking up tasks into smaller, more manageable steps can make a huge psychological difference to your perception of the day ahead. It’s often about reframing the negativity so it can be understood and dealt with.
This kind of knowledge provided by journaling can offer invaluable insight into the way pathways are working in your mind and is an important step in changing those habits.
Boost your freelance motivation, get more done and change the way your brain processes information for the better.
The Power of CBT Reframing When Tackling Rejection
As we have briefly mentioned, rejection is a part of freelancing, no matter your field, particularly when you consider that an estimated 75 million Americans are working as freelancers.
From proposals that don’t get accepted, to pieces that you’ve worked hard on only for the client to choose someone or something else; it’s a tough way to work after a while. But it’s the way that you respond to inevitable rejections that will make or break your mindset.
One of the key ways we can avoid getting bogged down is by reframing your thought process by avoiding things like black and white thinking. It’s all too easy to relate rejection to not being good enough; thinking things like “They don’t like my work, therefore I am no good” is a troublesome sign.
But the reality of the situation is never that simple, clients reading through proposals or choosing projects would have to consider a myriad of factors, none of which are under your control. CBT reframing encourages you to view rejection as feedback for improvement, not as a personal failure.
Reframe your perspective and reduce the emotional sting of rejection, keep moving forward and know that you are one step closer to your next opportunity.
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Imposter syndrome is all too common among freelancers and stems from self-doubt, anxiety and an irrational distrust of yourself and your work.
It’s something that can lead to missing out on contracts, undercharging for your work and missing out on deadlines due to feeling overwhelmed and out of place.
Cognitive reconstruction essentially aims to teach you as much as possible about your thought processes, and in doing so, you can disprove many of the elements of imposter syndrome that make you feel so out of place.
You’ll be forced to confront your imposter syndrome head on, as you discover evidence that combats these feelings. A good example is when you are setting your rates for a project, running through previous client feedback is a great way to reinforce how your work is received by clients, not to mention the fact that doing this is a great reminder of what you can achieve.
Cognitive mindset techniques will teach you to reexamine the evidence, learn new ways to assuage feelings of guilt and doubt, and allow you to reach your full potential without enduring self-sabotage.
The gig economy can be a brutal and unpredictable place, which means that maintaining long-term resilience is a difficult, but essential part of being a successful freelancer.
The important thing to remember about using CBT to strengthen your reserve and improve your mindset, is that it needs to be on a long term basis. It’s not a quick fix that will pull you out of a hole; instead, it’s a totally new way to reprogram and improve the way your brain works.
CBT tools will help you to manage stress, combat anxiety and overcome the fear of failure, allowing you to foster a healthier, more balanced, and rational approach to work. It’s something that should become a part of your being and should remain with you for the rest of your career.
With the help of CBT and the mindfulness techniques that come along with it, you’ll be allowing yourself to build a stable and solid mental platform that will support you through the inevitable highs and lows of freelance work.
Freelancing With CBT at Your Side
It takes a lot of courage for many of us to take the plunge into freelance work; it’s a big change and has many benefits, but unfortunately, there are plenty of negatives too.
At the end of the day, our successes are down to the way we deal with the lows, not how we enjoy the wins, and with CBT by your side, maintaining a positive mindset and structured workflows will be a breeze.
Reshaping your mindset and restructuring your thought processes will allow you to view rejection with rationality, avoid getting bogged down and allow you to push through setbacks.
The key to the world of freelance work is being in control of your mindset and emotions, so make the most of cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and be better equipped to enjoy the flexibility and freedom that freelance work offers.
Don’t let negativity drag you down, be in control of your own mind and understand the freelance microcosm, moving forward with confidence and a keen knowledge of your ability.
Keep the conversation going…
Over 10,000 of us are having daily conversations over in our free Facebook group and we’d love to see you there. Join us!