The Freelancers Union* is, obviously, pro-freelance. The FU relentlessly advocates for Freelancers and freelancing. So it is especially notable to see coverage of downsides to freelance work in the FU blog.
This summer Jenny Han discusses “All The Mental Health Challenges Faced By Freelancers” [1].
“There’s no doubting then that freelancing is an excellent thing. However, while many people who are engaged in office-based 9-5 employment might look on enviously, freelancing does have its considerable downsides, one of which is difficulties relating to mental health.”
(from [1])
Her list is:
- Screen time (too much)
- Isolation (loneliness)
- No Work-Life Separation
- Lack of Job Security (living from gig to gig)
What to do? Han recommends: “To avoid running into these troubles, the most important thing is to monitor yourself and find someone to talk to if things start going south.”
Hmm. I can’t argue with Han, so far as she goes. But there is a lot more to say here.
For one thing, these issues are hardly news. These issues have been known for a long time (see, for instance, The Greatest Book In The History Of Coworking [2]) And the pandemic forced millions to work at home, which brought these issues to the forefront.
So, yeah.
One bit of good news is that these woes are hardly unique to freelancers, per se. The woes of contemporary work are similar for all workers, no matter what their contractual regime.
Too much screen time? Everybody suffers from this, from babies to pensioners. (At least freelancers are getting paid for destroying their eyes, wrists, back, brain, and very soul.)
Isolation? Again, everybody suffers from this. There has been much written about the epidemic of loneliness, not just at work, everywhere. And I’ll note that workers feel isolated even as employees of a large organizations. Actually, social alienation can be worse as part of an organization, when workers feel shut out and powerless. That’s why people freelance in the first place.
Work-Life Balance? With contemporary technology, everybody are connected all the time, and that’s a big problem for everybody. And, as the pandemic showed us, working at home is hard on home life, no matter what your contractual situation.
Job insecurity. Hey! News flash, here. A “permanent” employment contract is scarcely a guarantee of employment. The difference between a freelance gig and an employment gig is…two weeks notice?
So, overall, the good news is that these psychological challenges aren’t specific to freelancing, per se. And they certainly aren’t caused by freelancing, per se.
But I wouldn’t say that there aren’t any special challenges for freelancers.
For one thing, there are a bunch of psychological challenges that Han didn’t list.
Job Insecurity has a lot of ramifications besides short term contract periods. Freelancers usually lack benefits that “regular” workers may have, such as health insurance, retirement savings, and on the job training. Together, this makes life less secure and, as Han says, “can lead down the road towards anxiety.”
I see a constellation of psychological issues surrounding the limited connection a freelance has to the work sponsor. A permanent employee is personally invested in a bigger project, the work of the whole organization. Obviously, a gig worker explicitly has minimal ownership of the work. This in turn implies little connection to the larger overall enterprise, and limited personal stake in the results.
A lack of ownership can mean less job satisfaction. Work is way, way better if you believe in what you are doing.
And, of course, a freelancer does not have a career or career path within an organization. Short term contracting precludes some opportunities and potential achievements, e.g., promotion, personal growth, leadership, and building teams.
So, freelancers certainly face psychological challenges. And the face them alone, which can be a huge challenge.
However, the good news is that the whole idea of freelancing is that you are hour own boss. So you can address these issues in ways that corporate drones can’t, and ways that fit you and your life.
And, with all due respect to Han, we can do a whole lot more than “monitor yourself and find someone to talk to”.
Work-Life Balance? Screen Time? Set boundaries for your work and enforce them.
Lack of Benefits? Join the FU!
And, of course, the entire point of Coworking is to address loneliness and social isolation.
To recap: work sucks for everyone. Freelancers are on their own, but freelancers are also their own bosses.
And, in the end, the plusses and minuses will have different weight and impact for different people. Some people will thrive as freelancers, others may struggle.
* Disclosure: I am a proud member of the FU.
- Jenny Han, All The Mental Health Challenges Faced By Freelancers, in Freelancers Union – Blog, August 30, 2022. https://blog.freelancersunion.org/2022/08/30/all-the-mental-health-challenges-faced-by-freelancers/
- Robert E. McGrath, What is Coworking? A look at the multifaceted places where the gig economy happens and workers are happy to find community. 2018, Robert E. McGrath: Urbana. https://whatiscoworkingthebook.com/
For much more on the Future of Work, see the book and blog “What is Coworking?”)
What is Cowworking? What Will Coworking Become?
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