Are You Self-employed? Watch Your Health!

 

One of the most admired minds of recent years was the visionary Steve Jobs. This man is the author of phrases like “it has to be something you feel passionate about, otherwise you won’t have the perseverance to do it.” However, the reality of fulfilling a passion can end you as a self-employed professional, which could be quite detrimental to your health.

Because being self-employed could destroy your stability, both physical and mental. At least that is what a study carried out at the Hospital de Bellvitge in Barcelona shows . Of the more than three million self-employed professionals in this country, there is a high probability among them of ending up with an extended sick leave.

self-employed life

They can call us in many ways. We are sometimes known as freelancers, other times as entrepreneurs. But, ultimately, we are people who, in an exercise of courage, try to make a living working on our own . However, on a daily basis, we have to face several inconveniences. It is true that we have freedom of schedule and we can organize ourselves, although not all self-employed professionals are always able to adapt to this lifestyle.

But it is also true that we suffer much more from professional insecurity than a company worker. Not to mention those who survive on low wages, high fees, unpaid vacations, payments that vary from month to month, etc. All this undermines the mental stability of the self-employed and ends up reflecting on their health. As some say, it is a life on a tightrope, weakened by various problems.

What happens to the self-employed?

According to experts, the alleged freedom of the self-employed is accompanied by many problems. Poor time management, fear, insecurity, sedentary lifestyle, anxiety and procrastination are just some of these problems. Thus, the courageous self-employed professionals end up suffering in large part from illnesses related to mental health. One of them is anxiety, which can be the anteroom for other more serious illnesses, such as schizophrenia.

And, although studies do not always focus on the real or direct causes of mental pathologies in self-employed professionals, most specialists point to the fact of always living on a tightrope. The peak happens when the professional has to ask for leave, which almost always occurs when the disease is already installed and there is no longer the possibility of making up for lost time.

Logically, we are showing an extreme case. Not all self-employed people suffer from these constant changes in professional insecurity. However, it’s also true that when things aren’t right, the self-employed are much more unprotected.

What to do to overcome the inconveniences of working as a freelancer

If you want to enjoy the freedom of working as a freelancer, but not the negative aspects, today there are possible solutions that are primarily due to being sensible, judicious and having common sense.

do it today

As we mentioned before, the big problem with the autonomous is procrastination. Putting off for tomorrow what you can do today leads to the famous snowball. Nowadays, we live in a world full of distractions, such as social networks, chat rooms, games, television, etc. that’s why this phenomenon is common: the self-employed person spends the whole day working, but his income is very low.

So remember, if you leave something for tomorrow that you can complete today, you are putting a debt on your future. And if that debt keeps accumulating, it won’t stop growing until it becomes something impossible to finish.

The future is now

Another big dilemma for the self-employed is thinking too much about the future. So, knowing also the fluctuations of the market and employment, he spends bored days in front of others in which he can’t even stop… That is, an accumulation of stress and malaise.

However, thinking too much about the future leads us to accept an excess of work that can produce a huge burden. Therefore, it is important to know when to delegate tasks, give up, know your own limit, etc. In other words, not paying attention to the phone or e-mail to live in the present and not the future.

there is a world out there

Many freelancers, especially those who work from home, end up not leaving this environment much. Which is a mistake because spending too much time in one place, without physical contact with anyone, ends up isolating and impoverishing that person.

So go out, get dressed, go to the gym, socialize, go to a bar, talk to people, use other modalities such as co-working . That is, don’t allow your reality to be confined to four walls, because you can go crazy. Being autonomous is not related to the fact that a person has to be constantly suffering.

In this sense, every job vacancy has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, the self-employed’s intelligence has to be in the way he organizes the two extremes of the scale, so that the balance is not altered and his health does not end up paying the price.