"Build a support network for yourself before things go wrong"
Matthew Knight offers his top mental health tips for freelancers, and their clients.
Two weeks ago, we published an interview in which Matthew Knight offered insight into the mental health challenges associated with freelancing. Matthew is the founder of Leapers, a UK online community that supports the mental health of the self-employed. This week Matthew shares his top tips for freelancers who want to get better at looking after themselves and clients looking to support them in those efforts.
What’s the origin story of Leapers?
We started out as a community four years ago to discuss the changing nature of work as more and more people were switching to running their own businesses. Very quickly, it became clear that people were mostly talking about the emotional and human experience of work. If you did a quick Google search at the time, you would find two stories about self-employment, the hashtag-work-on-a-beach-from-wherever-you-want story. And the freelancing-is-really-isolating end of the spectrum. The reality is – it’s not that binary.
And we just couldn't find any real research or impartial guidance for people. So we started out as: How can we be a supportful space for people who don't have a team to look after them? That's why we exist – to encourage people to keep themselves on their own to-do list.
So how can people do that? What’s your top tip for freelancers who want to put themselves on their to-do list?
We have a very light touch about it. Build a habit of putting 15 minutes in your calendar every week to take a deep breath, reflect and ask yourself how you’re doing. That’s it. If it helps, write down how you’re feeling and what led to those feelings. You might notice: every time I spend time with this client, I feel awful. Every time I do this type of work, I feel great. Being aware of how you’re feeling and what influences that creates a foundation, and you can then start to make changes in response if you want.
Second, start to proactively build a support network for yourself, whether that’s friends, family, mentors, coaches or colleagues. Having a network that you can start to build relationships with before something goes wrong is absolutely critical. It's no use to start doing that when something has gone wrong because you won’t be in the right state of mind. That’s where the name Leapers comes from. Because leaping without a safety net is a really bad thing to do.
What about clients? What can they do to support the mental health of the freelancers they hire?
If you boil it down, it’s the same thing. Ask them how they’re doing. What do they need to do the best possible work with you? Ask them that at the start of the project. Don’t just make an assumption that they’re ready to hit the ground running. If the freelancer is fine and doesn’t need anything from the client, that’s brilliant. But if they do, then the individual is given the permission, the space and the time to share that.
At the end of the project, I’d say ask for and give feedback. People in roles generally have a sense of their career progression because they're getting that from their manager and their peers. It can be a lot harder for freelancers to get feedback, understand where a project went, the impact of that work and what to do to improve things. Those are probably the two most powerful things you can do as a client.
How good are you at looking after yourself?
Absolutely awful. I am very aware of the things that influence my mental health, but I'm really bad at the practice. There's obviously an irony of me preaching these things to others. I think the reality is that nobody's got this cracked. Nobody is brilliant at looking after themselves. We all have wobbles and we all rely upon and need to rely upon others.
Interview by Linda A. Thompson, photo courtesy of Leapers.
P.S. Readers, I really encourage you to check out Leapers’ resource library of articles. They have posts on everything from self-confidence, late payments, imposter syndrome and money worries, to feeling isolated.