You are an emerging freelancer who’s been on a 9-5 routine for years before venturing on your own... but now your clients have become your 9-5. Relatable? Stuck in a loop of overbooking yourself fueled by the fear of future financial stability.
But freelance is meant to offer freedom, right? It’s easy to justify the hectic schedule by the need to pay the bills. Once more, you find yourself experiencing burnout, this time self-inflicted.
Perhaps it’s time to take on less, for higher rates. Perhaps it’s time to look for different clients. But it could also be finding that extra half hour before client projects for something fun and purely for your own joy. And there are great benefits to that.
Lauren Hom is a successful illustrator and big promoter of passion projects as a preventative care for burnout. In fact she grew her business thanks to her lettering passion project series Daily Dishonesty (later became a book deal) and Will Letter For Lunch. She even made a course teaching how passion projects might help your career.
“I felt like I wanted a little variety, a break from doing the same kind of stuff over and over again. My motivation was to always have something that was entirely mine, that was a creative escape, that just felt fun to work on.”
By prioritizing what’s fun and sharing it online she avoided burnout, found her audience, and even started getting more clients that hired her for similar fun projects.
Some benefits of passion projects:
It stimulates your brain in a different way.
It’s fun and that’s why we have hobbies!
It helps clarify your voice and brand.
You can learn a new skill either intentionally or in the process.
It can open up the gates to new exciting directions in your career.
You can share it on your socials to break up the otherwise sometimes repetitive networking posts.
Potential clients are regular people too and can enjoy seeing the personal side of you.
If you are doing a passion project based on a dream client you are literally manifesting for the future!
Passion projects should:
Excite you and not stress you out.
Be manageable and realistic within your schedule.
Ideally be a series since it positions you better to be uniquely recognized and gives you structure.
Lauren is also a muralist and inspired me to start my own passion projects painting walls a couple years ago. I painted my first mural in my bedroom and got a commission from that. Then I painted a wallpaper at my mom’s house with another mural planned this year. I’m excited to start planning a bigger one in my studio as well. I’ve found a mural can really transform a space to be more dynamic and it always sparks a conversation. Although these are one-off projects I discovered a love for painting big. It makes me move around, think differently, solve new challenges, and takes the pressure of profitable results off my shoulders.
What creative outlet helps you find a balance?
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