Collective Thoughts: What’s Your Freelance Working Style?
A few weeks ago, I read an article about the different types of working styles that Freelancers / Self-Employed Creatives tend to fall into. The article detailed that segmenters were most likely to compartmentalise their life and commit wholly to working, or to very specifically not working, whereas ‘integrators’ will bask in the freedom of being able to merge their work with their day to day activities, chores, hobbies and habits.
I then spoke to some of the team at Tandem Collective about how they felt - as our team is around thirty people, only fifteen-ish of whom live and work within the UK, I knew I could count on a broad spectrum of thoughts and responses.
Overall, I think I’m most like Laura and Zuzanna - in their responses below. I like having the freedom to be able to tackle ‘home’-tasks, or ‘life’-tasks during the day as moments away from my desk, but on the whole if I’m committing to working, then I’m committing to working. I think this comes from, for me at least, a feeling of having homework hanging over me - over school holidays, or weekends, when I was a kid. I couldn’t enjoy the weekend properly if I knew I still had to sit down and do an hour of Maths on Sunday night.
That being said, I’ve definitely ‘segmented’ my week into an ‘integrated’ way that works for me. For example; I run three times a week; Monday mornings, Wednesday evenings and Friday mornings. It’s in the diary. I have calendar blocked everything. A segmented-integration if you will. I take a two-hour lunch break because I want to walk the dog, sit and eat my lunch, and read a book. Outside of those integrations, I’m highly likely to be at my desk and working. Sure, I’ll get up and put the washing on, or run the hoover around the front room, but I think the discipline of getting some ‘desk time’ is useful for me - otherwise my flights of fancy will run away with me and I’ll convince myself I’m a starving artist, who can’t be tied down by a laptop or a requirement to pay any bills.
Here are some of the additional thoughts from the team below on how they feel about the segmenter / integrator schools of thought. Who do you resonate with the most?
LAURA DG: Working Style: Both
I tend to be a bit of both, depending on the day of the week/phase of my life/projects I'm working on, so for example I tend to be a segmenter at the beginning of the week, when I have a busy schedule with meetings, etc... and an integrator towards the end of the week when I'm working on solo projects. I find it changes constantly, but in order to be a proper segmenter I find I have to step away from the house and work in a cafe/co-working space to clearly separate the work/life environment.
Integrating works for me and I feel it allows me to create more synergies between work/life. I like to go for runs when I'm not concentrating or fold my laundry when I need to find a solution for a project.
CHAR: Working Style: Integrator
I am very much an integrator - the way I organise my to-do list is if it can be done in less than 5 minutes, and I have nothing that needs my attention RIGHT NOW, I'll just do it and that extends into my personal life. I think that one of the chief benefits of working from home is being able to throw on a load of washing or getting a haircut on a Wednesday morning and making up my hours when I feel like it. For me, being an integrator takes the pressure off of the weekend. I don't have to do ALL of my relaxing or chores on the weekend because I've done a little of that during the week and maybe worked a little later or I work on a Sunday afternoon.
I wouldn't say this has changed so much that when I was on PAYE and had a 9-5 or set shifts, I would still be maximising my time out of the house by running errands on my lunch etc. It's just that now, I'm not limited to time, unless I've got a meeting, I don't need to be in a certain place at a certain time.
ASHJAYY: Working Style: Segmenter
I am exclusively a segmenter. But, only when I have things on track. As someone with ADHD, I use a technique called 'time blocking' to manage my daily life so at the end of every day I sit down and block out the next day with specific times for different things. I group them into different categories. For example, 'self-care' which includes cooking, eating, showering, brushing my teeth, leaving the house to go on a little walk, dance work-outs, meditation, socialising. Basically, anything that positively benefits my body & mind is in that group. Then, I have the 'freelance work' category which includes (surprise) all my freelance work, my writing, content creation, admin, everything freelance gets done during that time block. And, I mentioned those two in particular because I try to sandwich the 'freelance work' time block in-between two 'self-care' time blocks where I can because I know this will positively impact the quality of my work.
[When thinking about whether it’s changed] Absolutely it has, and it still does on a regular basis. Especially as I learn more about my disability and how to work with it instead of fighting against it. During periods where my ADHD is being particularly debilitating I become an integrator because I have to try and get as much done as possible when my brain has the energy to do so. Usually, in these periods the 'self-care' time block is the first to go which has a knock-on impact on my ability to do everything else that's needed.
Segmenter seems (at least to me) to be the ideal approach to freelance life on paper but it's not always possible with all the curveballs both life and work can throw at you!!
JENNY: Working Style: Segmenter
I'm a segmenter. This mainly came from working in a bank, where I then had to carve out [time to do freelance work] Tandem time. Since going FT freelance I love having a schedule and a work day, as then I can close my laptop at 5pm and work is done for the day, rather than it being an all encompassing thing where I never switch off from work. I also segment my day and calendar block out time to do tasks, meaning that I can look at my day and see if I'm busy or quiet, I know in advance what I'm doing and when and I'm not stressed with trying to do 10 things at once. Honestly, the best thing I learned from [the bank] was calendar blocking! I guess this also means that once my 'work day' has finished, I have given myself an evening to do self care/chores/work out etc.
For me, I find this the best way to organise myself. I've tried just working as and when I feel like it, but I end up procrastinating so much I get nothing done at all. Maybe this is from many years working a standard 9-5 type job, but I really like having the structure of a work day, but I also can allow myself the freedom or flexibility of moving my day to suit- this morning I started at 9.30 because I wanted to go on a run first thing, and that's great!
AURORA: Working Style: Integrator
I think I am pretty organised in general and after working for many years in bars and shops having a very irregular rota I thought that 9-5 jobs were everything I wanted/needed in my life! When I started working for Tandem, despite how little work I had, I tried to start every day at the same time and build a routine. However, due to my impatience, I realised that I was replying to emails as soon as they came in despite the time of the day, or doing tasks at random hours. That's why I have become an integrator 100%. I do what I can, when I can from where I am! That has allowed me to go for lunch with friends, to have a day off in the middle of the week when I need it, to go and see family in the morning and do plenty of different things without having to stress because I am not at work when "I am supposed" to!I like working for an hour, going for a walk, coming back home, working for another bit, then meeting with a friend, coming back and working for another bit... It sounds chaotic but it works for me perfectly fine!
NAOMI: Working Style: Integrator
I used to be a segmenter but having worked for myself for 7 years now, I've settled into integrating work alongside the rest of my life. I left in-house because I hated the strict 9 to 5 structure and I never felt it worked for me. I will block time for specific projects but I've also learned that set tasks can't always be completed in the time blocks we set ourselves, and this can then cause frustration or feelings of not being good enough. It can also depend on how you feel each day. Integrating work with your daily life can enable you to work at the times you feel most energised and productive, rather than forcing yourself to work when you're not at your best. It's also imperative when you're travelling around to be able to work from wherever you are. I get a sense of pride when I can smash out a task whilst waiting to board a plane! Xxx
ZUZANNA: Working Style: Segmenter
When working [in a corporate role in publishing], there really is no such thing [as 9-to-5], you just work and work and work (all for the same salary), and the work just keeps piling on and then one day you just fall down and die... Ok maybe not quite so extreme, but I remember that I had to squeeze in work everywhere and anywhere just to stay on top of the workload - so on top of sitting at my desk for 8-10 hours, I was emailing while on the bus, on planes, answering calls from editors while in the bath (they will never know...), smashing out reading EVERYWHERE (doctors' waiting rooms, walking to and from grocery shopping, one hand holding the dog's leash and an iPad in the other...)
So, now that I'm freelance, I take GREAT joy in being able to focus on life, fun tasks, on looking up and taking in the world around me, not feeling like I have to squeeze out the juice out of EVERY possible minute just to make my deadlines. Freelance life allows me to slow down and give my cortisol/stimulation levels a chance to level out! And now when I'm working, I'm working, full immersion. But I don't bring it with me wherever I go (work notifications on phone = staying disabled forever). And I can work at times when I feel most productive, and do other stuff while my brain cells regenerate.
ALEXIS: Working Style: Integrator
I am absolutely an integrator. I've never had a 9-to-5 job, aside from a high school internship, because prior to freelancing I was an actor which is its own strange breed of freelance. As an actor, I had to take whatever oddly-timed day jobs I could get (usually restaurant work that either started at 6am or had you home at 2am), and then spend any "spare" time working on my acting career. I've had to totally reframe my priorities now that my day job is the one I actually want, and overcome productivity guilt to ensure I am taking time to relax and recharge- #boundaries. I'm used to fitting in chores and non-work tasks where I can, so it's now helpful for me to use these things to break up my work day and give my brain a breather. I still occasionally find myself working at 2am on a project I'm really excited about or working through lunch, but I'm working on firming up the boundaries for the times I work and getting on a more consistent schedule (something I've never had before).
LAURA MCK: Working Style: Integrator
This is fascinating to read everyone's responses, especially since I'm stepping back into freelance having done an office based job alongside other projects for the last year. I would say that I sit somewhere in the middle, because I tend to work on a two weekly rotation. I start to crave routine and structure and put in place a clearly segmented day that I usually keep up with for about two weeks (same thing goes for exercise routines!) and then I get a little bored and it goes out the window and I enjoy a more integrated approach ticking off life and work tasks intertwined. Then after a while I feel the need to regain more structure again and the cycle continues.. At first I thought I was being rubbish not being able to stick to the segmented routine permanently but now I've come to accept that I just always like to change things up a bit and that's where my consistency lies.
JAIDE: Working Style: Both, but Segmenter-preferring
I’m defo a bit of both depending on personal circumstances, however I try to be a segmenter as I prefer having a clear split between work and life. If I’m on the go doing life things and am asked to do something while out and about then I will and doesn’t bother me, which comes with the role of being in content creation and social media. At the end of the day I feel like being freelance and how you work is so personal with no one way fits all. The important thing is to focus on how you work best and go with that flow, rather than trying to work in a way that doesn’t fit with you.
STEFFI: Working Style: Integrator
I'm an integrator, but for many (17!!) years I was forced into being a segmenter, which - as someone with ADHD and chronic health problems and a disability - absolutely did not work for me. It worked for who I was working for, because I did all the work and then some, but I was miserable, I neglected my health and relationships and passions, and I had no sense of self.
I've had to unlearn being a segmenter and learn to be an integrator and I'm still working on it - I still feel weirdly guilty if I stop work for half an hour to load the washing machine and take a shower, or if I decide to knock off a bit early to play with Bea - even if I've done all my work and am ahead of schedule! I think that comes from not having total trust in my brain to switch between tasks efficiently - an ADHD problem - and being totally institutionalised from years of working in very miserable and very corporate environments where people would get the sarky "good afternoon" if they started working at 8.31am instead of 8.30, or were perceived as lazy if they left at 5pm instead of slaving away until 8pm.
For example, today I started work at 7.30am so that I can go out for lunch later with my partner and Bea as my partner is just back from a week away. The old me would have thought 'no, today is one of your working days, you can't do that' - but I need to eat lunch either way, and it's our one chance at some family time this week, so I'd be stupid not to! Especially since I started work early today to enable me to do so! My brain is still very silly when it comes to justifying things, but I think that comes from decades of undiagnosed ADHD and always feeling like I'm doing something wrong, when I'm not. My work is my passion now and vice versa, so it will always get done to the best of my ability and in good time - my hyperfocus ensures that! - so at the grand old age of 35 I'm finally learning to trust my own habits and routines to serve me and my family, as well as my work. It is an absolute joy to be able to do that at Tandem! I never thought with my ADHD that I'd be able to be an integrator and live this life!
