I remember when ‘Work / Life balance’ used to be *the* buzz words. More correctly now, the term ‘mental health and well-being’ is used instead. In the film and television industry, especially when we’re freelance, there’s a tendency to define ourselves by how busy we are: we boast about how long it is since we had a day off, we pride ourselves on how often we get asked back on a show.
This can be a dangerous metric to live by.
I received a note this week from a friend concerning a mutual colleague. They were not a friend as such, but a colleague nonetheless. They hadn’t worked in over a year and this had affected their mental health, their finances, their relationship (divorce proceedings had begun) and they had considered suicide. They were physically and mentally exhausted by their situation.
Last year, I took a 3-month mixing job away from home; an unusual length of time for me to agree to be away… But being a freelancer, and therefore forever uncertain of work, I made the decision to go. 12 hour days, 6 days a week as a busy Audio Director were completely exhausting. In all, in that 12-month period, I was overseas for 7.5 months.
I recognized I needed time to recover when I got home, and so I made subsequent decisions about work accordingly.
On one of the overseas jobs with me was a colleague who had left home one morning 18 months before, and hadn’t been back since; instead they had gone from one job to the next. Yes, they had a family; no, they weren’t divorced; but they were freelance, uncertain of work and had become afraid to turn any offer down. And even though their relationship functioned and their children had become accustomed to FaceTime contact, they were physically and mentally exhausted and in survival mode. Unbelievable maybe; but true.
We’re all different, and we all have different levels of resilience and energy.
For some of us, these are extremely tough times. This industry has a terrible reputation for treating people badly… And in turn our health can suffer.
Sometimes we need someone to not only hold us accountable to our personal and professional dreams and goals, but to also hold us accountable for our physical and mental health.
I’m a coach, and I’ve been there on the most gruelling of assignments; and I can be there for you. Because I understand.
The waiting list and details of my coaching content, including how to download my free eBook on the benefits of coaching for creatives, awaits you here:
www.soundproducer.com.au/coaching
(How hard is that decision to take a look?)
