Industry View
Buddies
matter
Laura Capell-Abra, founder
of Stress Matters, on looking
after yourself, as well as your
business, as a freelance
event prof
F
“Achieving
balance can
happen; being a
freelancer means
you can control
the working
culture you want
to adhere to”
54 — September
reelancers are the bedrock of the events
industry.
They help our fixed teams scale-up when
needed, bringing vital skills and experience.
They are considered part of the team, invited
to leaving dos and Christmas parties. They are
considered part of the team until it comes to
investment into their wellbeing and then they
are on their own.
As freelancers, we often have two sets of
clients – the team that we are working with
and the end organisation that the event is
for, which means a lot of time spent people
pleasing and a feeling that our time is not our
own. Below are some tips to help you focus on
a little self-care:
• Track your energy levels. Many of us follow
a similar day plan. Start work at 8am, check
our emails, write a loose to-do list then get
started on the fire-fighting. If we’re lucky
we might grab a sandwich for lunch, then we
carry on until 8pm. Track your energy levels
for a week then try mapping the tasks you
find easiest to your low energy points and
save those more challenging tasks for when
you’ve got loads of energy.
• Take breaks – long and short. When we are
busy, we think that powering through will
mean we do more work. But stopping every
hour for five minutes can revitalise us and
gives us a chance to re-set our priorities
when requests are flying in. There is no
average attention span so when your brain
starts to wander, go take a wander.
• Reconnect with nature. It’s surprisingly easy
to go an entire day without going outside
when we are working hard. Try making
all phone calls outside and ideally while
walking to give yourself some fresh air,
some exercise and a change of environment
throughout your day.
Achieving balance can happen; being a
freelancer means you can control the working
culture you want to adhere to and it starts
with making a conscious effort to establish
what you want that to be.
We often talk in our stress management
workshops about having a ‘well-being buddy’;
that person who can have your back at work,
a person who can spot if you’re showing signs
of stress and who you can have an honest
conversation with about your mental health
without fear of judgement.
We want this support to exist for the
freelance community and so we are launching
Buddy Matters, our freelance support
programme where we create Buddies across
the industry that can help each other. No
one should feel lonely in an industry built on
bringing people together.