Coping with social anxiety when you’re self-employed
If you suffer from social anxiety, the desire to stay at home and avoid social situations can create problems for your business. We’ll discuss here how social anxiety presents itself and what you can do about it - especially as a self-employed person.
How can social anxiety impact your freelance career?
As we’ve seen, social anxiety can severely affect people’s quality of life. Some freelancers may feel less anxious when working from home, as you’ll have a better chance of avoiding the social situations that trigger issues. These can include everything from telephone and in-person meetings to having lunch with colleagues or commuting. But the condition can still impact your career even if you’re self-employed.
Decreased confidence when marketing yourself
In order to have a successful freelance career, we often need to step out of our comfort zones. Marketing your services isn’t easy, even if you don’t suffer from anxiety disorders.
For example, we are often told to ‘show our face’ regularly on our social media channels - ideally via live video posts, as many channels’ algorithms favour these. We also may be encouraged to use direct marketing methods, such as messaging or phoning potential customers.
But if you are affected by social anxiety, self-promotion in person or online becomes very difficult, if not impossible. This is likely to have a direct impact on brand awareness and sales.
Issues when attending meetings or networking events
As a self-employed business owner, you will need to build good working relationships with other freelancers. These networks can help you become less isolated and may also be a source of potential income through client referrals.
However, whether attending meetings via online video calls or in person, these can be traumatic experiences for freelancers who suffer from social anxiety.
For example, you may be invited to join a virtual networking meeting with 50 other freelancers and be asked to introduce yourself and your business in just one minute. This can cause huge mental pressure.
In-person networking events may encourage you to chat to as many people as possible in one room in ‘speed dating’ fashion, exchanging business cards and information about yourself and your work. “Ice breakers” or forced small talk over a buffet lunch can be awkward, too.
Problems when dealing with clients
Being self-employed means that we need to solve issues with (sometimes difficult) potential and current customers. Being assertive in these situations is especially challenging for someone suffering from social anxiety. This can lead to feelings of even lower self-esteem and potentially to a loss of income if, say, outstanding invoices aren’t chased up because of anxiety issues.
Other tactics to reduce social anxiety
Set limits: learn to say ‘No’
If you’re struggling with anxiety and assertiveness issues, it’s easy to take on more than you should. Freelancers often underestimate how long tasks may take anyway. That’s why it’s so important to recognise the first signs of social anxiety and stop the vicious cycle of getting more and more worried and overwhelmed.
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. For example, if you are already working on two projects and are struggling, don’t accept a third one.
Stick to fixed working hours and make sure you set healthy boundaries with your clients.
Initiate socialising where you feel comfortable
If you can choose your preferred setting to meet with friends, fellow freelancers or potential clients, you’ll have greater control over your anxiety levels. So, initiate meeting up on your own terms if you can.
Work where you work best
Finally, every person is different. Don’t let others tell you where you should work. You may feel better interacting online than in person, so give yourself a break and don’t push yourself too far, too soon.
You could experiment with working in a friendly and relaxed co-working space, to see if this works for you. There may also be cafés in your area that you could try to work in just to “get out”, even if you don’t interact much with others (yet). Of course, there are pros and cons of co-working environments, but it is worth testing if they may be suitable to tackle some of your social anxiety triggers.
Exercise
Getting regular exercise at home or in the gym is key to better physical and mental health, along with a balanced diet. For example, it may be helpful to do exercise before or after an important meeting to reduce stress levels. See more information on other treatment options below.
