A professional development plan is a tactical approach to improving your current career situation. This can take many forms, but the primary goal is always the same: bringing you more satisfaction in the 40+ hours a week you dedicate to work.

Experiencing moments of boredom or frustration at work is normal, facing a long period of dissatisfaction, depression, and exhaustion is not. If you’re unhappy in your current job and wondering if there might be something better out there…there is! You just have to find it.

You deserve to do work that leaves you excited, fulfilled, and well-compensated. First, you need to accept that fact. From there, you can learn how to achieve it.

I know these steps well because several years ago, I found myself in the same position: burnt out, overworked, and feeling trapped in a career I did not love.

ABOUT ME: From Screen to Page: How I Rewrote My Story

In this post, we’ll cover:

1. Beating Burnout
2. Mindset Shift
3. Navigating a Career Change
4. Is Freelancing Right For You?
5. Your Professional Development Plan
6. How to Become a Freelancer
7. Freelance Writing

As of today, I have been successfully freelancing as a writer for the past 2 years and can truly say that I love my job. This transition from the office to full-time self-employment didn’t happen overnight, it is a process that can be challenging and scary, but through perseverance and advice, you can build the professional development plan to beat burnout and find success in freelancing.

Keep reading to find out how.

Beating Burnout

Burnout affects almost everyone at one point or another. A period of burnout can be categorised by a deep sense of exhaustion that no amount of sleep can fix. It’s often caused by an extreme energy drain in the workplace such as unsatisfying work, difficult management, or a lack of direction. Forcing yourself to wake up every morning and complete the same workday with little to no improvement to your fulfilment.

Read More: “I hate my job, but quitting isn’t an option…”

Symptoms of Burnout

Burnout impacts your mood, productivity, and focus, causing even the smallest of tasks to feel impossible at times. The further you fall into burnout, the more difficult it is to pull yourself out. As a result, you find yourself putting in the same or more effort into your work only for the results to become less and less significant.

This lack of achievement leads to lowered self-esteem and an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and strained personal and professional relationships.

The good news is that there is a way out. You can beat burnout, even without making a career shift.

Burnout typically sneaks up on us as we juggle the responsibilities of life such as work, caregiving, and finances. The sooner you can recognise the symptoms in yourself, the easier it will be to beat the burnout. Here’s what to look for:

1. Aversion to Routine: Activities that were once enjoyable now feel like chores. You want to stay in bed longer, crave deviations from your schedule, and wish for change.
2. Losing Track of Time: Disassociation causes minutes or hours to slip by unnoticed, especially on days off. You might end the day feeling like nothing happened.
3. General Dissatisfaction: If you can’t remember the last time you felt excited or find it hard to identify sources of joy, you might be experiencing a passive lack of fulfilment.
4. Feelings of Hopelessness: Beyond dissatisfaction, you might feel hopeless about future joy, stuck in a cycle of exhaustion.
5. Insomnia or Trouble Sleeping: Burnout often leads to disordered sleep, adding to the overwhelm and perpetuating the cycle of exhaustion and stress.

If you can recognise the above symptoms in yourself, then it’s time to explore how to overcome them. For most people, taking an immediate break from work isn’t possible, however, that doesn’t mean you cannot beat burnout whilst still working.

How to Overcome Burnout

READ: How to Recover from Burnout While Still Working

Use the following steps as a framework for burnout recovery:

1. Acknowledge Your Burnout: Recognize and admit you’re burnt out. Identifying the symptoms is crucial to start feeling better.
2. Identify the Source: Determine whether your burnout is physical, emotional, or mental. Pinpoint specific aspects like workload or client communication that drain you the most. This helps in making targeted changes, such as hiring a VA or rescheduling tasks.
3. Create Personal Time: Restructure your day to include a self-care activity that energizes you, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. Whether it’s a morning walk, gym session, or enjoying coffee, protect this time.
4. Embrace Variation: Combat routine dissatisfaction by introducing variety. Take on new projects, try different exercises, or even change your dining habits to break the monotony.
5. Learn to Say No: Start declining future commitments that drain your energy. It’s challenging, but necessary to prevent overextending yourself and to maintain control over your workload.

It’s so important to be re-energised, focused, and ready before considering how to make larger changes to your current job and future career trajectory.

Mindset Shift

Success comes from you. No matter how hard you work, you cannot control fluctuating markets, client actions, or hiring managers’ decisions. All you can do is manage your own actions and reactions to external situations.

This is why mindset is so important.

Growth Mindset

LEARN: Why It’s Time to Define Your Growth Mindset

Growth mindset is the mental perspective that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, learning, and perseverance. It’s about embracing challenges, learning from criticism, and persisting in the face of setbacks.

Instead of seeing your current workplace dissatisfaction as a failure, try to embrace it as an invitation to improve your abilities, situation, and potential. Adopting a growth mindset means you’re always looking for ways to stretch your skills, expand your knowledge, and turn obstacles into opportunities for development.

Navigating a Career Change

START HERE: Exploring New Career Paths: A Step-by-Step Guide

Right now you may have accepted that you are unhappy in your current role, but unsure what to do about it. Trust me, I know the feeling:

What Am I Doing with My Life: Finding Purpose in Your 20s

The most important steps when considering a career shift are going to be:

Identify Transferable Skills

It may sound overwhelming at first, but I guarantee you have a wealth of desirable skills, both hard and soft, that could seamlessly transition into another industry or profession.

EXPLORE: Debugging to Editing: Leveraging Tech Problem-Solving Skills in Writing Careers

Listing Priorities

You are burnt out in your current role for a reason. To avoid the same situation happening again, you need to consider what you need out of your next role. These may involve compensation, flexibility, or the type of work you will be doing.

You can only get your dream role if you know exactly what to look for.

Leveraging Your Network

This comes into play in two ways. Firstly, is reaching out to those working in a field or role that you are interested in. Ask them about their work, lifestyle, and experience to gain a better understanding of if it may be the industry for you.

Secondly, consider how you can use your network to your advantage. Look for company referrals, mentorship, and opportunities for work experience in order to establish how realistic a shift into a particular position might be.

READ MORE: Digital Connections: Networking Strategies for Creatives

Is Freelancing Right For You?

The realistic truth is that a traditional work setting does not appeal to everyone. If you’re like me, the idea of self-employment, flexibility, and becoming your own boss represents your dream career.

But freelancing isn’t for everyone.

It’s important to consider the pros and cons of freelancing before making the jump to becoming an independent contractor.

EXPLORE: How to Work From Anywhere

Advantages of Freelancing

1. Flexibility: It goes without saying that the flexibility of working remotely is an incredible benefit. The level of flexibility will depend on the job itself, but regardless of exact restrictions, working remotely can allow you to work from anywhere. Your schedule is no longer ruled by being in an office for 8 hours a day, and instead, you have control over your daily work environment as well as the time and space for socialising and travel.
2. Time Efficiency: Remote Work removes so many time wasters like commuting, getting ready in the morning, and small talk with colleagues you’d rather not be around. You now get to design your days to prioritise efficiency and productivity in whatever way suits you.
3. Improved Work-Life Balance: Many remote workers report that they see a markable improvement in their work-life balance after stopping reporting to a physical office. Working from home (or from the road) can relieve work-related stress, improve mental health, and help encourage healthier boundaries between your professional and personal life.

Disadvantages of Freelancing

1. Social Isolation: Without a centralised office space and working full-time from home can lead to a major drop in opportunities to socialise. Working from home makes it all too easy to slip into social isolation if you don’t make an active effort to make plans with friends, find remote work spots outside of the house, and build a remote work community.
2. Lack of Motivation: It is not uncommon to quickly discover that without the constraints of normal working hours and a supervisor next door, your productivity struggles. Most people are not used to self-lead motivation and discipline and perfecting these skills can take time.
3. Burnout: For some people, remote work is an opportunity to rebalance their work-life balance, but for others, the lack of stringent start and end work hours can cause a worker to never ‘switch off’. Instead of taking your work home with you, you’re home is where you work, and so creating professional boundaries is more important than ever.

EXPLORE: How to Disconnect from Work and Start Living in the Moment

Your Professional Development Plan

Any career shift, including becoming a freelancer, requires you to create an intentional professional development plan.

READ THIS: The Truth About SWOT Analysis For Freelancers

SWOT analysis is a great place to start, it is a straightforward yet powerful tool for evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to your future role. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Strengths: These are your internal positives—what you do well, your unique resources, and your competitive advantages. Think about what sets you apart and gives you an edge.

Weaknesses: These are your internal negatives—areas where you could improve, things you lack, or factors that put you at a disadvantage. Acknowledging these helps you to work on them or mitigate their impact.

Opportunities: These are external positives—trends, market gaps, or any external factors that could benefit you. Identifying opportunities helps you to plan how to capitalize on them.

Threats: These are external negatives—challenges or external factors that could cause trouble. Recognizing threats allows you to prepare and protect yourself against them.

By breaking down your situation into these four categories, you can create a clear, strategic roadmap to leverage your strengths, overcome your weaknesses, seize opportunities, and fend off threats.

How to Become a Freelancer

Freelancing offers fantastic perks like working from home, being your own boss, and having flexible hours, however, it also comes with a significant challenge – constant self-motivation.

Unlike employees who have structured hours and tasks set by supervisors, freelancers must rely entirely on self-discipline to stay motivated and productive. This transition can be daunting, especially for new freelancers, who may struggle to maintain productivity and face feelings of shame when they fall short.

As a result, freelancing requires you to hone a very specific set of skills.

Start here:

Productivity

30 Ways to Immediately Improve Your Productivity

Self-Discipline

5 Easy Habits to Improve Self-Discipline for Freelancers

Self-Control

Self-Control Secrets to Effortlessly Work from Home

Freelance Writing

So often, people ask me how to become a freelance writer… Without ever having shared a single piece of writing.

START HERE: Three Realistic Remote Writing Jobs You Can Start Today

Before exploring tactical steps, it’s going to be essential to understand who you are as a writer, how to feel confident sharing your work, and what exactly you want to say.

LEARN: Six Techniques to Discover Your Authentic Writer’s Voice

Writing will always be a form of self-expression, regardless of the content, and if you don’t feel confident writing, clients won’t feel confident in you either.

READ: 10 Expert Steps to Build Your Writing Self-Confidence

Freelance writing means writing a lot. Most hours of the day will be spent crafting content that is typically for clients and often on topics you may not be personally connected to. This makes your writing process more precious than ever. You will need to learn how to access the state known as Creative Flow: a period of pure concentration and free-flowing words from mind to page.

READ MORE: 10 Essential Writing Exercises to Access Your Creative Flow

Writing Coaching

START HERE: Can Anyone Write?

Looking for more support? Working with a writing coach may be the most effective step in your professional development plan.

EXPLORE: What is a Writing Coach?

A Writing Coach serves as both a creative ally and tactical support throughout your writing journey. They not only assist in refining your projects but also help reshape your relationship with writing, addressing anxieties and self-doubt that often arise. This investment in coaching isn’t just about enhancing your writing skills; it’s about fostering a deeper connection and confidence in your craft.

Do you have a question I didn’t answer? Leave it in the comments below or Get In Touch for an answer straight to your inbox.