This should probably come as a timely reminder for me, as I'm dangerously close to burning out at the moment. I already find myself losing motivation and taking 2-3x longer to get anything done.
I think my problems are mostly related to chasing payments. If I was paid even half what I was owed, I could take a break for a few months quite comfortably. As it is, I get just enough to cover my bills. So I find myself working longer hours to try and bring in more money, getting less sleep/time to myself and none of that is helping. It's a kind of vicious circle in a way, I haven't the time or inclination any more to create an amazing Github profile or do freebie work to land a decent gig. I'd love to take a holiday (have had maybe 7 days off in 18 months) but I just can't afford to.
It's also quite difficult to talk about this to friends etc as it does sound on its face a very first world problem to have, especially when friends are having pensions slashed and the corporate axe dangling ominously. I can understand them having little sympathy.
Now, this isn't to whine (although it may read like that!). I know I'll figure it out in the end but hopefully reading stuff like this will give me that extra little bit of hope or the last push I need to really starting fixing things. It's a horrible feeling and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, except maybe Hitler (what a bastard!).
Have you thought about hiring a bookkeeper or accountant to help out? Not being valued by clients can make you feel pretty shitty, but it's amazing what a regular "When can we expect payment?" call will do.
There are other tricks you can use to perk yourself up - progress payments (including a deposit up front) and firing your most annoying client have both worked for me in the past.
You've got to figure out why you're not getting paid, and some way of fixing it. 50% unpaid invoices is not normal.
I could not possibly stay motivated to work if I thought there was a 50% chance I was going to get cheated or seriously delayed on my end of the deal.
Working yourself to exhaustion does not solve the key problem here. Taking a vacation wouldn't solve it either.
Patio11 says get a better class of client, and he's right, but you're probably going to have to think about that some. Figure out where you're going wrong.
> I already find myself losing motivation and taking 2-3x longer to get anything done.
> have had maybe 7 days off in 18 months
For me the most depressing situation is not designating blocks of time as work or play exclusively. It means you end up procrastinating when you should be working, and feeling guilty when you should be having time off.
I'm speculating based on the above two quotes, but are you experiencing something similar? I can imagine it would be hard to have any guilt-free play at all with the spectre of unpaid bills over your head.
Still, I humbly suggest that you schedule at least one day off (and plan it, like, 13:00 - 15:00 - play playstation, 15:00 - 17:00 - walk in the park etc, so your mind doesn't naturally wander to work or mire itself in guilt). This won't make you feel any less depressed, but might give you the emotional resources to rambo through any tasks you've been avoiding.
P.S. Have you considered hiring a VA to send your late paying clients a weekly polite and friendly reminder to pay up?
That sucks - chasing payments sounds really frustrating, because it's not even like you're doing something wrong, it's just this situation that you shouldn't even have to deal with, but you do. It sounds really stressful. Good luck with everything.
Maybe you should have shared your feelings with your friends. I just got back from a trip and visited some friends from college. Once we got past the pleasantries of not seeing each other in almost a decade we started on how our life is now. It felt good to share our collective feelings on career and life and no one was there to judge me, some of us wish we could exchange lifestyles (more vacation time, more money, more exciting cities).
This is why I consider my friends from college to be my closest buddies. We all entered the world in the same socioeconomic position. We've all experienced similar problems so nothing is ever a first world problem for any of us.
It's also quite difficult to talk about this to friends etc as it does sound on its face a very first world problem to have
Not really. "First world problems" are things like "oh my iphone isn't so shiney", whereas sounds like you're getting overworked, feeling exploited in your job, are under financial pressure, and need some R&R.
I think my problems are mostly related to chasing payments. If I was paid even half what I was owed, I could take a break for a few months quite comfortably. As it is, I get just enough to cover my bills. So I find myself working longer hours to try and bring in more money, getting less sleep/time to myself and none of that is helping. It's a kind of vicious circle in a way, I haven't the time or inclination any more to create an amazing Github profile or do freebie work to land a decent gig. I'd love to take a holiday (have had maybe 7 days off in 18 months) but I just can't afford to.
It's also quite difficult to talk about this to friends etc as it does sound on its face a very first world problem to have, especially when friends are having pensions slashed and the corporate axe dangling ominously. I can understand them having little sympathy.
Now, this isn't to whine (although it may read like that!). I know I'll figure it out in the end but hopefully reading stuff like this will give me that extra little bit of hope or the last push I need to really starting fixing things. It's a horrible feeling and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, except maybe Hitler (what a bastard!).