Out of Office

Time spent away from work can be just as important as time spent at work, so this week on the podcast Jenni and Wudan discuss their strategies for getting out of the office and into the woods on a regular basis. Burnout is also a huge risk for freelancers, especially for writers telling stories about the human condition, and especially for those of us who struggle to turn work "off." Burnout is also bad for business, as it can decrease your efficiency and leave you feeling uninspired. The episode starts with a discussion of how to avoid burn out, then moves to boundary setting, including setting office hours and determining a vacation benefits package for yourself. Veteran freelancer Alex Leviton also joined us to talk about how she combats burnout, including her own warning signs, her rulebook for avoiding burnout, and her belief that burnout can actually be a useful learning experience. Alex Leviton is a longtime writer and editorial director, and the author of Explore Every Day, her 37th book project with Lonely Planet. She has a masters in journalism from UC Berkeley and in addition to writing, has been researching and teaching evidence-based tools for fostering creativity for over 15 years. She teaches her Second-Layer Creativity methodology to writers, physicians, CEOs, teens in a psychiatric hospital, and online at Write Like a Honey Badger.  Now that season one is over, we've compiled every episode's resources into a workbook, which you can buy here. And we have a brand-new new offering: If you're just getting started with your freelance business, you'll want to enroll in freelance biz school @ The Writers’ Co-op Academy! We're offering two courses: One that helps you build a business plan (Biz Basics) and one to help you understand media contracts. It's like 1-1 coaching, but cheaper. (Btw, our favorite worksheet associated with this episode is this one, which walks you through avoiding burnout.) You're invited to support the podcast by becoming an official Writers' Co-op member on Patreon. All members $3 and up get access to event discounts, a Q&A form, and more. All-Access members receive special worksheets and other downloads along with each episode, plus an exclusive episode at the end of each season, and access to our Slack channel. And if you're a VIP or Pod Squad member, you also get monthly coaching sessions along with the aforementioned resources.  If you're not a member, you can buy each episode's accompanying resources a la carte on our website. Episode transcriptions are also available there.