COVID-19 Support and the resilience of freelancers
Being a freelancer means that we are all at risk for our choice to be self-employed.
With this choice brings many difficulties but it also gifts us the freedom that we crave to shape our own future. The independence to work the way we want to work, how we choose to work and when we want to work. We are in control of our lifestyle and our routine, whatever we choose that to be. Along with this, a freelancer must have resilience and adaptability at their core, in order to weather all of the storms that may come to buffet and bash us off course.
Due to COVID-19 and the lockdown restrictions here in the UK and around the world, we have all have to batten down the hatches and steer ourself to safe ground. Freelance life can bring uncertainty to us at any time and the global pandemic has caused a huge amount of discomfort and struggle. One benefit that we share, is that most freelancers work remotely, either at home, at coffee shops, libraries or co-working spaces. This has resulted in an easier transition into lockdown restriction for many freelancers, as we were already perfectly adjusted to home working. However, employees, managers, directors, CEO’s etc., all had to face the fear of changing their routine to fit around home life. This may have seemed quite novel for them at the start but over the coming months, many haven’t coped well with that change.
I’m hopeful that when the threat of the virus has diminished to the point where we can return to some form of normality, that freelancers will be properly acknowledged by others and given the respect we deserve. For many years there has been a stigma attached to freelancers and home-based businesses, even being the brunt of jokes and ridicule. I also want to see a widespread change in the way businesses and organisations work, to allow their staff to work flexibly, work from home and have a much better quality of home life and a positively buoyant work-life balance.
Many self-employed directors have been hit hard by the lack of funding or support by the UK Government, some having to close their businesses completely, others struggling to make ends meet. On the other side of the story are employees that have had the benefit of being furloughed, with a high percentage of their wages covered by government assistance. In the freelance world, we have been provided with a number of support options from, the Self Employment Support Scheme for businesses that have been trading for over three years. This has resulted in two support payments made by HMRC to those that qualify, with a further to payments expected in the future. The sad part of this is that everyone else, that started their business more recently, was unable to benefit and caused much worry to those that had been pushed overboard. Those not able to claim from HMRC could only sign up for Universal Credit. So, a mixed bag of support and non-support and an unbalanced approach.
On the flip side to all this is something that I’ve learned over the two decades that I’ve been self-employed. What time and experience have taught me, is that we should never depend on anyone else to survive or support us in the face of adversity. It’s down to us, plain and simple, to cope with all that comes our way, be that raging storms or calm waters. Plan for disasters if you can, have a fallback option or options, build a contingency sum with 3 to 6 months worth of income to plug a hole in your bough, reassess what you actually need to work and cut out those perks or comforts, if needed. I believe that most freelancers can work with a core set of tools and a basic survival budget. So, when times get tough, cut out those anchors to streamline your spending.
I’ve loved being flexible, changing the way I work and how I live. Most of that change has come from reading some incredibly transformative books on business and lifestyle topics that have made me embrace change as a positive action. For me, and I appreciate that this won’t work for everyone, I’ve embraced living with less and prioritising my spending to only what’s needed. With this knowledge, I’ve been able to work smart and adapt to whatever has fallen in my path. I don’t expect you to all make a drastic life-changing decision, but you can, at the very least, look closely at your life as a freelancer or self-employed business owner and take steps to streamline your work and your lifestyle. Ask yourself “do I really need this” or “how could I do this differently”. I’m confident that you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what you’ll discover about yourself and how to run your business! Most of this work is down to mindset and conditioning yourself to accept change, so get back into the water and start rowing, with a lighter boat that’s easier to navigate, that isn’t restricted to a single destination, that has space for new cargo to trade, that can take on board enough resources to fix any repairs that may crop up, to make your boat watertight and agile for the future.
Resilience and Resourcefulness are the essences of freelance life, so how ready are you for a new voyage into the unknown and how confident are you, that you can safely ride the waves of uncertainty? Your safety net may well be too heavy with stuff that you don’t need, sinking you to the bottom of the ocean. If you don’t have a life raft and aren’t capable of swimming, you’ll be stuck in a trench.
Streamlining what you do and how you do it are not just valuable to assess during a pandemic, it’s a key process to create improvement and positive change. If you’re a freelancer, you are independent by definition and whilst we can’t see the future, we can make ourselves adaptable, in case the weather changes. Like any storm, they always end, just as the wake of COVID-19 will subside in the hopefully near future. How you react to adversity is your choice and we shouldn’t expect to magically find a bag of treasure on our deck to bail us out. I wish you well on your freelance journey, just be mindful of your catch and your boat.
#resilience #freelance #self-employed
This article was written by Jason Conway, an award-winning creative professional, artist, writer and poet based in Stroud, Gloucestershire UK. You can find out more about his business at www.thedaydreamacademy.com or connect with him on social media.
