I was thinking about it today, and I think it may stem from the typical school timeline. We would start a year, move through the year, complete the year, and move onto the next. Even though the growth each year fluctuated, the pattern remained the same, and we always moved forward.

After 12+ years, the pattern gets ingrained in our head, but as adults, things aren’t broken down into neat little packages that signify growth, so it can be easy to think that it isn’t happening, especially if things have stalled or even moved backwards a bit.

I know this, but it takes on a different meaning when I can actually see it. The picture below is my Substack subscribers (thanks for being here!). There are periods of growth where quite a few people subscribe each day. Then there are days with a few unsubscribes. Sometimes these periods essentially cancel each other out and the graph flattens for a while. Then it picks back up again.

Seeing this graph made me want to see what my income looked like if graphed.
I’ve been a freelance writer for 7 years, and I know that my income has grown, but I also know that it hasn’t been linear or even a little bit smooth.

I started freelancing in 2019, and in December of that year, I had my first $1,000 month. It was the moment when I realized that this could be a real job. From there, my income has continued to go up, but when I graph it out (with the help of ChatGPT) it actually looks pretty crazy.

Overall, my income has trended upward, minus an abysmal April 2025, but it is decidedly not linear.

I think this graph is a metaphor of sorts for every area in life where we want to make progress. It’s probably not going to be a smooth upward line. There’s going to be jagged edges and stutter starts and upward movement. The important thing is to keep going, keep your goals in mind, and don’t get discouraged when things aren’t going exactly how we planned because there’s were we often learn the most important lessons.

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Join the TSF Club by becoming a paid subscriber today! You’ll get some awesome stuff — think a fun real life welcome gift (stickers and more!), interviews with other freelancers, webinars, Ask Me Anythings, Coffee Chat co-working sessions, and more. Join today for $5 per month ($50 for the whole year)!

I also just opened up the subscriber chat, so you can chat with me and other freelancers about keeping your business simple (while making money, of course!). I know we all have about a thousand ways to chat with people, so no pressure!

See below for the first TSF Club FLOWN — we’re doing a pitch workshop!!!

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FLOWN is a body-doubling and co-working platform that helps increase focus and productivity. You can join drop-in sessions, focus sessions, or community-hosted sessions. It’s a great platform for friendship and focus!

It’s free to join and you get an allotment of sessions that you can join throughout the month (plus free Fridays!). These are the ones I’ll be in this week if you want to see a friendly face (but actually everyone is friendly!):

📅 My FLOWN calendar

Come hang out on FLOWN! Here’s where I’ll be this week!

• Wednesday @ 9:00 CST: 1 Hour Focus Session We’ll do a quick chat and then settle into a work session!

• Wednesday May 27 @ 10:00 CST: TSF Club Pitch Workshop This is a pitch workshop for TSF Club members! We’ll take turns reading a pitch that we’re getting ready to send out and everyone can offer feedback and suggestions for improvement. I’ll send an invite to TSF Club members Wednesday morning. This is the first one, so I’m excited to see how it works!

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📖Reading

I just finished The Lost Bookshop and loved how everything came together in the end. I feel like there were a few holes and some moments where the plot jumped a bit, but overall, it settled right into that magical realism space that I’m loving right now. P.S. Look at how beautiful the deluxe edition is. I really love these!)

I also just started The Magic of Manifesting Money. I definitely believe in the power of the mind to call things to you, and this book shares manifesting strategies and explains things in a way that I’ve never thought of before. Should we do a TSF Club book club???

*As an Amazon Affiliate, I make a small commission on items purchased through my links.

💻Working on

Happy last week of the month! I have quite an article push this week, and I’m excited for the income:

• 7 MoneyLion articles

• 3 small business articles

• 2 articles for The Healthy (one of these will be a Behind the Pitch!)

🤍Loving

Our little town had its annual Memorial Day celebration, and it was really great. The kids are older now and can mostly run around on their own, so I mostly just got to hang out and get a little sunburned. Speaking of manifesting, quick story:

Years ago, I had just met another mom in the area. I was actually hired for her job when she quit teaching to stay home with her kids. We met a few times and got along really well. She was one of those people that I knew I’d be friends with, but we didn’t really have the chance to hang out — mom life.

That year, I knew she had had people over to her house to watch the fireworks in town, and in the back of my head, I thought that it would cool to be good enough friends to do that someday. Fast forward to when I quit to stay home with my kids the next year. We ended up going to the same mom group in another town (it’s a very small area) and became really good friends. We’ve been friends for around 7 years now, and we’ve spent the last few years of fireworks at her house watching them! It always feels very full circle.

🧠 Thinking

This is completely unrelated to writing (which is why I give myself a “thinking” space here), but we’re going to start paying the kids a “salary” of sorts. They really do help out a lot around the house, and paying them for individual jobs is exhausting. I always got an allowance growing up, which I always spent on Taco Bell back when tacos were $0.89, and I think it will help them learn how to manage money and have a little more control over what they buy. I’m always curious about how other people approach money with their kids, so feel free to share!

I want to know all of your over coffee things. You can copy and past the list in the comments and add what you’re:

📖Reading

💻Working on

🤍Loving

🧠 Thinking

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Ways to support The Simple Freelancer

If you want to send some support, here are a few options:

• Share what you enjoy about The Simple Freelancer here. I’ll share testimonials on LinkedIn and on Substack Notes to get the word out for other freelancers who could benefit from simple tips for freelance success.

Share a testimonial

• Restack this post or share it on your social media of choice (and come say hi on LinkedIn. I love the LinkedIn x Substack vibe).

• Ask Me Anything about freelancing, work-life balance, mindset, and whatever else. This will give me ideas for future posts!

• Buy Me a Coffee or download a resource from my Buy Me a Coffee shop.

• Check out the resources I have available on Gumroad (some are free and some have an associated cost).

• Buy this mug of anything from the Freelance Survival Guide. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases..

• Follow me on Pinterest.

• Share this post so others can find it!

After a thoughtful conversation in the comments, we have a new term:

Bounce Mode

There’s so much talk about deep work and being focused that other forms of productivity or work modes are sort of left in the dust. Those who struggle to settle into a task may feel like they’re doing it wrong, but really, there’s a time and a place for different work styles from day to day or even within the same day.

Subscribe to The Simple Freelancer to get two posts per week straight to your inbox 💌. You’ll get at least one Behind-the-Pitch post each month from myself or a guest poster as well as lots of simple tips for freelance success. Grab a coffee, and let’s hang out ☕!

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Bounce Mode

What I referred to as being a “bouncer arounder,” a commenter referred to as Bounce Mode, and that’s what I’ll be going with because it sounds so much better.

So what is Bounce Mode?

Bounce Mode is when you feel like you’re in the flow, but you’re bouncing around from task to task and actually accomplishing things (this is in contrast to Wander Mode coming up later).

Yesterday, for instance, in Bounce Mode, I responded to a bunch of emails while also checking the household budget, posting about Bounce Mode on LinkedIn, sending a pitch, and making a tax phone call.

What felt like a chaotic hour actually led to getting a lot of things accomplished. While I waited for one tab to open, I did a task on another tab, when the first tab was ready I headed back to that while also making pitch notes in my notebook.

A comment on the LinkedIn post said, “bounce mode feels messy but weirdly productive…like connecting dots I wouldn’t in deep focus.”

It feels chaotic, but there’s a flow to it. There’s not a lot of hesitation, it’s just bouncing from one thing to another and maybe back again and checking things off the list and connecting dots.

My brain feels dialed in even though it’s not on a single task.

This is my favorite mode because I feel like that’s how my brain actually works on a daily basis — bouncing from one task to another — so this feels like a natural state. The conversation on LinkedIn touched on whether I plan this into my day or let it happen naturally, and it’s a mix. I’ll have a day where there either isn’t anything specific I need to do and then find myself catching up on to-do list tasks. Or I know that I have a lot of little things that need to get done, and I set aside a morning or afternoon to bounce around catching up on things.

Focus Mode

I feel like Focus Mode is the gold standard. It’s the mode that everyone’s heard of. It’s deep work, the head down focus we all strive for.

And it’s great, but it’s not sustainable because it takes so much, well, focus.

We know that we can only be in this mode for short amounts of time, but once we’re out, the goal is usually to get back, so we can get more done.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this feeling, too — being laser focused on one task.

I try to activate this mode when I’m writing an article. Often, I bounce back and forth between writing and emails which can get distracting and pull focus from the actual task.

I’ll set a timer for 20-30 minutes and tell myself that the only thing I have to do in that time is write. That’s usually enough to get my head down and focused on the task at hand. When the timer goes off, then I’ll take a break if I need one and then head back to writing.

Wander Mode

I would argue that this is the least productive mode, but I also think it’s necessary. Just as it’s beneficial to sit and let your mind wander or to go outside to take a walk, I think it can be beneficial to wander around the internet a bit. Read emails, look something up, chase threads and thoughts, meander around.

But, this mode can get out of hand quickly. The internet is a big place and the potential to wander around for too long is great.

I think that Wander Mode can be beneficial, but I try to limit it. Wander Mode is often how I start my day, taking a half hour or so to read newsletters or clear out my inbox. I’ll check LinkedIn notifications and comment on a few posts, maybe read an article that someone shared.

After a little bit of this, I feel ready to focus in and then spend the next half hour or so before the kids get up in a deeper work Focus Mode state.

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Thoughts???

What do you think?

Do you feel good in Bounce Mode or is it too chaotic?

Do you have your own names for these different work modes?

Which one is your favorite?

Leave a comment

Ways to support The Simple Freelancer

If you’ve been following my Substack, especially over the last few weeks, you know I’ve debated about whether or not to do paid content. After a lot of thought and some very welcome reader feedback, I decided that paywalling content just didn’t feel right for me or The Simple Freelancer. I’m exploring other ways to monetize (if you want to sponsor a post to share your product or service, message me or check out my Passionfroot page!), but in the meantime, if you want to send some support, here are a few options:

• Share what you enjoy about The Simple Freelancer here. I’ll share testimonials on LinkedIn and on Substack Notes to get the word out for other freelancers who could benefit from simple tips for freelance success.

Share a testimonial

• Restack this post or share it on your social media of choice (and come say hi on LinkedIn. I love the LinkedIn x Substack vibe).

• Ask Me Anything about freelancing, work-life balance, mindset, and whatever else. This will give me ideas for future posts!

• Buy Me a Coffee or download a resource from my Buy Me a Coffee shop.

• Check out the resources I have available on Gumroad (some are free and some have an associated cost).

• Buy this mug using the link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. You can check out a list of some of the things I love in this post.

• Follow me on Pinterest.

• Share this post so others can find it!

  Share

While I’m no stranger to getting tired or stressed out, I’ve never reached burnout. In 2023, I jokingly said my goal was to reach burnout to see what my limits actually were — actually, that wasn’t a joke. I very much meant it.

The year went by, I worked harder than I ever had. I had my highest months to date while all three kids were home during summer break and we went on a road trip. We bought a house and moved. It was wild.

But I didn’t get burned out.

That’s not to say I don’t have rough days or feel tired, I definitely do. But it’s never gotten to a point where I couldn’t do daily tasks or complete my work or lasted for more than a few days.

So, that got me thinking about what I do to avoid burnout, and it turns out, there’s quite a lot.

What is burnout?

I’m no medical professional (are you shocked?), so I went to the National Library of Medicine to learn more. “Burnout” first appeared as a term in the 1970s by Herbert Freudenberger, an American psychologist. He focused on burnout in caregiving professions, but the symptoms show up in lots of other situations.

Signs of burnout include:

• Exhaustion - feeling drained, emotionally exhausted, overwhelmed, and down

• Alienation from (work-related) activities - finding your job stressful and frustrating, becoming cynical about working conditions or colleague, showing less interest in work. (My addition: Because freelancing is very much a lifestyle in addition to a job, I could see this creeping into daily life more easily than if you went to a 9-5.)

• Reduced performance - affecting tasks at work and at home, becoming negative about tasks, finding it hard to concentrate, lacking creativity

These symptoms can also signal depression, so it’s important to keep an eye on them.

How to avoid burnout

Ok, so like I said, I don’t think I’ve ever fully reached a burnout state. I have, however, definitely felt exhausted and avoidant and listless, but it thankfully doesn’t last very long (and is often tied to my cycles - TMI? - so ladies, make sure you’re factoring that in as well.)

There are a few things that I do, some naturally and some I have to work at, that I thought might be helpful if you struggle with burnout or if you just need a little lift to get you through a tough week.

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1. Recognize that you’re feeling overwhelmed

Honestly, this might be the hardest one. Sometimes you’re so heads down in work and life that you don’t even realize you’re overwhelmed until it feels…well, overwhelming. When this happens, I can often catch it on my own and feel myself getting tense, but my husband will also notice and ask if I’m stressed out.

Unfortunately, feeling behind about work usually bleeds into home life. My husband’s recognition is usually enough to pull me out of it and realize that I just need to get through a short period of a lot of work and then I’ll be on the other side.

2. Make a “must do list”

Zero in on what absolutely has to get done. Deadlines, projects, meetings, or appointments that can’t be moved stay on the list. Then…

3. Trim everything you can

Once you know the non-negotiables, trim the rest. If you have meetings you can push, see if you can push them until the initial overwhelm is over. Side projects or long lunches might have to wait. I’ve occasionally looked at my work/home loan and opted for a quick Simple Freelancer post rather than a full one to lighten the load a bit. This could also look like grabbing a pizza for supper or eating off of paper plates so there aren’t dishes to do at the end of the day to give you time to recharge before tackling tomorrow’s work.

4. Cut out distractions

When I feel like I JUST DON’T HAVE ANY TIME, I think about how I always seem to find time to scroll Instagram when I feel like it. Then I start to cut out distractions, starting with social media. This is especially helpful when I feel like I’ve over-consumed current events or start comparing myself to others.

5. Practice gratitude

I know everyone says this, but it really does help. When things feel very overwhelming, I think of the things that I’m really grateful for. Even on stressful days, I’m thankful that I get to work at home doing a job that I love. I’m always thankful for my family and our home. Beyond that, I’ll focus on little tiny moments that brought me joy or made me smile

6. Take a mini break

Honestly, I think this is the key to not burning out. I do all the other stuff on this list, but this one has the most impact. I also realize that I just said to cut out distractions, but this looks a little different because it’s intentional.

One of my favorite things to do is watch a show after the kids go to bed and have a snack. It feels like setting a reset button because it’s something I’ve done for years and it cues calm and relaxation. This works for me, but for you it might look like sitting down and really enjoying a cup of coffee, going outside, taking a walk, doing a puzzle — whatever makes you feel recharged! Even if I have tons of work, there’s usually a few minutes to do take a mini break and get things feeling pretty good again.

Do you struggle with burnout? What do you do to avoid it?

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Ways to support The Simple Freelancer

If you’ve been following my Substack, especially over the last few weeks, you know I’ve debated about whether or not to do paid content. After a lot of thought and some very welcome reader feedback, I decided that paywalling content just didn’t feel right for me or The Simple Freelancer. I’m exploring other ways to monetize (if you want to sponsor a post to share your product or service, message me or check out my Passionfroot page!), but in the meantime, if you want to send some support, here are a few options:

• Share what you enjoy about The Simple Freelancer here. I’ll share testimonials on LinkedIn and on Substack Notes to get the word out for other freelancers who could benefit from simple tips for freelance success.

Share a testimonial

• Restack this post or share it on your social media of choice (and come say hi on LinkedIn. I love the LinkedIn x Substack vibe).

• Ask Me Anything about freelancing, work-life balance, mindset, and whatever else. This will give me ideas for future posts!

• Buy Me a Coffee or download a resource from my Buy Me a Coffee shop.

• Check out the resources I have available on Gumroad (some are free and some have an associated cost).

• Buy this mug using the link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. You can check out a list of some of the things I love in this post.

• Follow me on Pinterest.

• Share this post so others can find it!

  Share

When I was categorizing all of The Simple Freelancer posts, I realized that a large portion fit under the mindset category. Mindset is something that I take pretty seriously and focus on what I think and how I feel and the why behind it.

This section contains my tips and tricks for creating a resilient mindset. If you’re a freelancer, you’re going to need one!

Here are a few articles to get you started!

Have questions?

Freelancing can be a lonely endeavor, especially if you have questions. There’s a ton of information out there, but sometimes it’s nice to ask a real person. If you have any questions about freelancing, work-life balance, morning routines, or anything else, drop them in the form linked below. I’ll either answer them in a post, or if there’s a lot of info, it might end up being an entire post!

Ask a question

I opened up Canva and started pasting pictures on to the board focusing on what I wanted to do, feel, and accomplish in 2026. Then I had an idea — I would type out what I wanted and put the words behind the pictures. No one else would know they were there, but I would.

When I went to type out my income goals, I kept lowering the amount.

Mind you, no one will ever see this number except me. And to be honest, I’m probably going to forget it’s there in a few weeks (I checked what I had written behind the podcast picture and had completely forgotten that I listed a few that I want to be on).

What’s crazy is that this is my vision board with my income goals, and I kept lowering the number. Not because I want to make less but because the number that I wanted to write was so big.

But it’s what I wanted to write.

A vision board is supposed to encompass reality, yes, but it’s also a literal representation of your biggest goals and dreams. There shouldn’t be any limits. Except there was…me.

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On The Office Ladies podcast, Jenna talked once about a lesson she learned about negotiating a salary. She said that when people go into a negotiation for pay or contract terms or whatever else, one of the biggest mistakes that that they talk themselves down before the conversation even starts. They don’t even start negotiations where they want to.

I sort of get that because when you’re negotiating with someone else, they have certain limits and you’re trying to get ahead of it a little. I’m not saying it’s a good strategy, but it’s an understandable impulse.

But I was surprised when I saw this impulse literally come to life as I sat by my daughter while she watched Curious George (on my dream couch that I never thought we’d be able to afford, by the way).

The universe doesn’t have a budget and my income potential is limitless, and there I was talking myself down. Honestly, how crazy is that???

There’s an Alex Warren song where he says “stop speaking in whispers, say that with your chest.”

That line has been on repeat since I heard it. If we don’t say what we want and then take action to get there, who will?

No one is going to come to me and say, “hey, that number you wrote down and hid behind an image on your Canva vision board is too low. You should write a bigger number that no one but you will ever see.”

I have to say that!

And I’m saying it to you. I don’t know what you big goals are for the year, your dreams, the things that keep you going when you don’t want to go anymore, but say them. Even if it’s to yourself in the mirror. Even if it’s writing it down and then hiding it away in a nightstand or behind an image.

Today’s advice as we enter 2026, the year of the freaking Fire Horse, is to ask for what you want.

What you really want.

And then say it with your whole chest.

Leave a comment

If you’ve been following my Substack, especially over the last few weeks, I’ve debated about whether or not to do paid content. After a lot of thought and some very welcome reader feedback, I decided that paywalling content just didn’t feel right for me or The Simple Freelancer. I’m exploring other ways to monetize (if you want to sponsor a post to share your product or service, message me or checkout my Passionfroot page!), but in the meantime, if you want to send some support, here are a few options:

• Share what you enjoy about The Simple Freelancer here. I’ll share testimonials on LinkedIn and on Substack Notes to get the word out for other freelancers who could benefit from simple tips for freelance success.

• Restack this post or share it on your social media of choice (and come say hi on LinkedIn. I love the LinkedIn x Substack vibe).

• Ask Me Anything about freelancing, work-life balance, mindset, and whatever else. This will give me ideas for future posts!

• Buy Me a Coffee or download a resource from my Buy Me a Coffee shop.

• Check out the resources I have available on Gumroad (some are free and some have an associated cost).

• Buy this mug (or anything else) using the link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. I literally just signed up, so we’ll see how it goes. Ideally, I’ll link to a list of stuff that makes freelance life better (blankets, coffee mugs, notebooks, you get the idea).

I think that’s it for today. Let’s get 2026 started!!!

Leave a comment

If you’ve been waiting to grab the Freelance Foundations course, now’s the time! It’s 50% off through the end of the year (code: FF50). You’ll learn how to get your mindset right, zero in on a niche, see what editors want from the freelancers they work with, and much more! You can also check out the first module, The Foundation, for free!

When I started freelancing, I wasn’t in a great place. I had finally quit my job and was staying home with my kids, something that I had wanted to do for a long time, but we were in a weird place financially — stable but with a lot of goals that a single-income wasn’t going to touch.

I knew I wanted to make money from home, but I had literally not a clue what I was doing. The freelance community and friends that I have now didn’t exist for me. I didn’t buy a course. I sent countless emails to people asking to be their blog editor — I actually got one client and made $50 bucks. At the urging of my husband, I started sending proposals on Upwork to write for people. I didn’t really want to write, I wanted to edit, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.

I got a job writing for a Lithuanian beekeeping affiliate blog and got paid $30 for 1,000 words. It was incredible, and I was hooked! Then I got another job writing for a property finder website in Spain.

I woke up early day in and day out and started writing for HomeLight, one of my first non-Upwork clients. Then I got Flyhomes and Apartment Therapy. In my fourth year, I was making the same as I was a teacher, nearly $50,000!

But, as ChatGPT says, here’s the thing.

I had no idea what was going to happen when I opened up my school-issued laptop in 2019 and wrote about beekeeping before the sun came up and my son stumbled out into the living room.

But I showed up and stayed consistent. Now, I have a business, an actual LLC. I pay taxes. I have freelance friends all around the world. We bought a house. I get to go to my daughter’s reader’s theater on a random Thursday.

None of those things were even in my mind when I started. They also never would have happened if I hadn’t started and stayed consistent.

One day, my husband and I were driving and I had a revelation. First, some backstory.

I’ve worked out sporadically throughout my life, but I’ve always had an idea in mind of what I want to look and feel like. But other than some yoga here and there and eating relatively healthy, I’ve never done much to get there.

My revelation was that when I was starting as a writer, I had no idea what the job or business or opportunities would look like. I just did it everyday.

What, I wondered, would my body actually look like if I stayed consistent and worked out and made healthy food choices everyday (ok, not everyday — I really like chips)?

I started doing Caroline Girvan’s Iron Series on YouTube. I had never lifted weights before, so it took a bit to get used to, but I’m not kidding, within three weeks, I had muscles that I didn’t even know were muscles.

Did you know that there are muscles on the inside of your forearms and just above the outside corners of your knees?

I’m joking, sort of, but I hadn’t ever felt them before!

Everyone’s body is different, and it didn’t matter who I looked at and thought that I would like to look like them, the reality was that I would never know what my body would look like if I wasn’t consistent. Turns out, I have really good arms! And I’ve always been strong for my size (I still remember my mom asking if I needed help when I hoisted one of our big wood living room doors over my head and carried it to the backyard to be painted), but I’ve never actually seen the muscles that make me that way!

Since then, I’ve alternated between less consistent (and the muscles said goodbye) to more consistent like I am now, and I’m seeing them come back.

The point that I’ve been meandering towards is this:

There’s no way to really, truly know what you’re capable of unless you’re consistent.

So, that’s my challenge for you this year. Choose something that you want to change or work towards and be consistent. Really, truly, actually consistent.

You honestly don’t know where it could take you and what doors it could open. It could even set you on a path that you never even knew existed.

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Welcome to our weekly chat! There’s a Coffee Chat template below that you can copy and paste into a Note or a comment. Tell me what you’re reading, working on, loving, and thinking!

📖Reading

I read The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose over the weekend. It’s a novella and book 2.5 in The Maid series. I actually recommend reading it in order if you can. It’s very cute and Christmas-y, so it’s perfect for this time of year!

I’m working on a roundup of fantasy books for an outlet, so if you have any suggestions of books that take place in other worlds/realms/universes, send them my way!

I’ll wrap up the year with only 20 books read, but the numbers don’t always tell the whole story!

What are you reading right now? Do you keep track of the books you read each year? I have a list in my phone, but I know a lot of people use Goodreads.

💻 Working On

Last week was a wild one. This week is much slower, and next week is Christmas! This holiday season has simultaneously gone quickly, but it’s also been really enjoyable. I have to wrap presents this week, and then I think Christmas prep is done.

For work, I’m working on:

• 1 article for Real Simple

• 1 article for an agency client

• 4 articles for GOBankingRates

• 4 updates for Angi articles

If you missed my yearly round up, you can read The Simple Freelancer post or go to LinkedIn to see the graphic I made (inspired by Lauren Barnhill from ).

🤍Loving

Every year, we go to see a local Christmas light installation. We stop for Mexican food on the way there, and it’s one of my favorite traditions. The kids are getting older, but they still shriek and squeal when they see certain lights. On the way home, two kids fell asleep but the third was wide awake and told us jokes for 45 minutes!

🧠 Thinking

A lot of awful things have happened around the world and in our own country recently. I’ve been thinking about the people affected as well as their families and friends who have to bear the loss and help through the aftermath. Hug your people today 🤍

I want to know all of your over coffee things. I’ll send coffee money to the first three people to share ☕! You can copy and past the list in the comments and add what you’re:

📖Reading

🎧Listening

🤍Loving

🧠 Thinking

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I’ve been asking myself this a lot lately.

I’m not a painter. Or a sculptor. Or a poet. I don’t feel the pull to journal.

Sometimes I feel like that means I’m not very creative?

But I saw a Note one day that said something to the effect of if you’re human, you’re creative.

That got me thinking about the times that I feel a spark of creativity, and I realized that creativity can take a lot of forms. Some of which are unexpected.

When I was a teacher, I created unit packets that walked the students through the entire unit. It included everything from activity instructions to worksheets to reading assignments. I loved creating these. I actually told a friend about it today and got chills.

Building lesson plans doesn’t feel very creative on the surface, but it sparked excitement.

And maybe that’s what creativity really is — getting excited about making something new in whatever form that takes.

When I think back on this year, the things that really lit me up included building Placed and creating the Freelance Foundations course (get 50% off with the code FF50 through the end of the year!).

Heading into 2026, I want to keep making things for you guys, so if there’s anything you need help with, let me know! Think budgeting templates, planning materials, pitch guides, etc!

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Welcome to our weekly chat! There’s a Coffee Chat template below that you can copy and paste into a Note or a comment. Tell me what you’re reading, working on, loving, and thinking!

📖Reading

I’m working on reading more articles in publications that I want to write for. This sounds obvious, but between client work, pitching, marketing, writing for The Simple Freelancer, and you know…life, I never seem to get time to read articles. I do find time to scroll Instagram, so there’s obviously time available, I just need to use it better.

Up first: Travel + Leisure, Hotels Above Par, Late Checkout

💻 Working On

I’m replacing the Listening category with what I’m working on. It will *hopefully* be more interesting than what I’m listening to.

December filled up with more client work than I was expecting (hallelujah!). I’m writing:

• 4 posts for Eagle Woodworking

• 2 refresh posts for LeafFilter

• 1 post for my small business lending client

• 2 articles for Real Simple

• 4 posts for my railing client

• 3 articles for GOBankingRates

• A bunch of updates for Angi articles

I think that’s it at the moment. I’d really like to do a bit of travel writing, and I just got an email from someone about a hotel that might be a viable option. With young kids, I’m pretty limited as far as travel is concerned, but I think it’d be really fun to focus on the Midwest and keep it local.

🤍Loving

My husband and I went Christmas shopping last week and had such a good time. After many, many years of not being able to do many things just the two of us, I get so excited when we can run errands and grab lunch.

I also had my yearly business planning meeting with a friend of mine, and it was so good. We talk about our individual businesses, offer help and insights, make plans set goals, unpack feelings, and it always feels so good.

🧠 Thinking

I’m thinking about next year a lot. It’s planning season!!! I’ve been in a business building phase for a long time, and this is the year that I think everything’s going to come together and start building on itself. I’m just really excited for what’s to come!

I want to know all of your over coffee things. I’ll send coffee money to the first three people to share ☕! You can copy and past the list in the comments and add what you’re:

📖Reading

🎧Listening

🤍Loving

🧠 Thinking

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It was a really good show, though I’ll admit I didn’t watch the later seasons.

I love a good behind-the-scenes moment, so I’ve listened to a few episodes of How We Made Your Mother podcast (it’s part of The Office Ladies Network). In it Josh Radnor, who played Ted, and Craig Thomas, co-creator, break down each episode and share their experiences throughout that time.

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In the first episode, one of the things that struck me is when Radnor asked, “if your life was a movie, what would the audience be shouting?”

We’ve all seen those movies.

Someone goes into a creepy house alone, and we’re screaming, “get out! Don’t go in there! Turn around!”

Someone wants to kiss their crush, and we’re screaming, “do it! You’re meant to be together!”

Someone pursues a promotion, and we’re screaming, “you’ve got this! You’re so qualified!

When I heard this question on the podcast, it really got me thinking.

If my life was a movie, what would the audience be screaming?

I’m not sure I know exactly. I’ve always followed my gut and intuition, and it’s served me well time and time again, and right now, it’s pretty quiet. I feel like I’m on the right path with freelancing and what I’m doing here on Substack.

But this question is living in the back of my mind, so I’ll ask the same question to you.

If your life was a movie, what would the audience be screaming at you right now?

If something jumps out, feel free to share in the comments. Otherwise, I think this is a nice question to sit with for a bit and see what comes up.

If you’re life was a movie, what would the audience see that you don’t?

What patterns would they notice that you haven’t put together yet?

Subscribe to The Simple Freelancer for free and get two posts per week filled with resources, tips, and recommendations to make freelancing simple.

Paid subscribers get:

💫Two weekly posts

🎉At least one additional post per month and deeper dives in regular posts

🖋️20% off of Freelance Foundations, a self-guided course that walks you through everything you need to know to set up your business, find clients, and work with editors.

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Welcome to our weekly chat! There’s a Coffee Chat template below that you can copy and paste into a Note or a comment. Tell me what you’re reading, listening to, loving, and thinking!

📖Reading

Currently reading The Librarian Always Rings Twice by Marty Wingate. This is the third book in The First Edition Library Mystery series. This is the epitome of a cozy mystery. No guts or gore, but there is a murder and the characters take frequent breaks for tea and biscuits. Just my style. I’m currently writing this in the dark, but as soon as the light comes on (it’s set on a 5:45 am timer), I’m going to switch to reading!

🎧Listening

I might need to remove this category because I’m very boring. I put on Taylor Swift while I was cleaning the other day, and the girls danced and sang with me while my son complained that he couldn’t hear the show he was watching.

I’m also on a steady rotation of The Office Ladies and Advisory Opinions.

🤍Loving

I wore an ugly Christmas sweater out and about the other day, and my 7-year-old informed me that it was very embarrassing. I’m not 100% sure that she knows exactly what embarrassing is though, because when I said, “What?!? You don’t like my sweater!?!” she said, “no, I do!” But then I asked why she was embarrassed and she shrugged. Sooo….? Regardless, it belonged to my husband’s grandma, and I love it!

We saw Zootopia 2 in the theater, and it was so good! It was cute and clever, and I teared up a little at the end. All-in-all, well worth the $70 it cost for the tickets and snacks (yikes!).

🧠 Thinking

It’s officially the Christmas season, and I’m always thinking of ways to make it a little more magical for the kids. I know they won’t be little for long, so I want to make it special for them, but I also want to make sure that I look back and know that I did all that I could for them. Sometimes that results in me putting too much pressure on myself to make things perfect, so I’m going to work on being a little less type-A about it.

It’s also almost time to set goals for 2026 (!!!). A friend and I get together every year and go over the previous year as well as what we want to accomplish in the upcoming year. We’ve been doing it for probably five years, and it’s something I really look forward to. I’m gathering my materials, and I’ll do a full breakdown on exactly how I set everything up soon.

I want to know all of your over coffee things. I’ll send coffee money to the first three people to share ☕! You can copy and past the list in the comments and add what you’re:

📖Reading

🎧Listening

🤍Loving

🧠 Thinking

Lego is an abbreviation for two Danish words — leg godt. The phrase means “play well.”

I noticed that when they were trying to find a specific piece, they would start to say things like,

“I’ll never find it.”

“This is hopeless.”

“I’m going to stop.”

In a moment of sheer parental luck, I suggested a different phrase for them to try —

“I bet I’ll find it soon.”

I kid you not, the first time I did this, my son was getting super frustrated that he couldn’t find the piece. I stopped him and suggested he say, “I bet I’ll find it soon,” instead.

He did, and when he looked down, the Lego was sitting right in front of him.

I was just as surprised as him.

Since we started doing this, we’ve all been shocked at how well it’s worked, and I swear this phrase makes them appear.

There was one time we were building a tiger from a kit, but the pieces were all mixed in with the rest of the Lego bin. We were both looking for a few very specific pieces and couldn’t find them. Honestly, I was getting frustrated, too. Then we remembered our phrase.

We both said, “I bet I’ll find it soon,” looked down, and all three pieces we needed were sitting right there. We stared at each other in shock.

Subscribe to The Simple Freelancer for free and get two posts per week filled with resources, tips, and recommendations to make freelancing simple. Paid subscribers get:

💫Two weekly posts

🎉At least one additional post per month and deeper dives in regular posts

🖋️20% off of Freelance Foundations, a self-guided course that walks you through everything you need to know to set up your business, find clients, and work with editors.

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I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve heard them searching for a piece and then hearing a mumbled “I bet I’ll find it soon” followed by an excited shout of “I found it!” Sometimes, they don’t even get the full phrase out before they grab the one they’ve been looking for.

So why am I going on and on about my kids and their Legos?

I think this phrase and the success it’s brought us in finding Legos can be translated into a lot of different aspects of life, specifically, for our purposes, freelancing.

Freelancing can be incredible with a lot of freedom and excitement, but it can also be incredibly frustrating. Especially when you’re reaching out to editors and potential clients and being met with silence or “no”s.

I really believe that the energy you put out is the energy that’s returned to you. If you spend your day thinking that no one’s going to get back to you, then it’s more likely (I think) that they won’t.

If you spend your day thinking “I bet I’ll get a pitch accepted soon” or “I bet I’ll get a new client soon,” then it keeps your mindset positive, and it’s more likely that positive things will happen.

If nothing else, it will keep your spirits up as you reach out to yet another editor or potential clients. Everyone you reach out to or connect with has the potential to be the next person you work with, so if you can keep going, you can keep getting clients.

Do you have any mindset tricks that you use? If you try “I bet I’ll [insert thing] soon” let me know how it goes!

Leave a comment

If you have any questions about freelancing, work/life balance, the Freelance Foundations course, or anything else, you can submit them to The Help Desk. I’ll answer them in upcoming editions!

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I recently launched Freelance Foundations, a course to help you start and grow your freelance writing business. When you buy the Freelance Foundations course, you’ll get:

✅ 6 modules that each focus on a different aspect of starting and growing a freelance writing business

📝Activities along the way to help you focus or refine your mindset, niche, tools, and more

💭A Notion Course Companion where you can do the course activities

🎯An income tracking spreadsheet that totals monthly and yearly income

❔3 opportunities to join a Q&A session where I’ll answer any questions you have about the course or freelance writing in general

Get Freelance Foundations for $79

We’re here for real talk, so that’s what happening.

Please, keep in mind that this is (obviously) my personal opinion.

So many times, I see freelancers citing imposter syndrome as a struggle that they deal with as a freelancer, and quite frankly, I’m tired of it.

It’s an excuse.

It’s overdramatizing a feeling that needs no more drama.

It’s an overblown way to say you’re nervous and feel uncomfortable (which I will argue is actually good).

It’s hard enough to be nervous and put yourself out there without turning it into a syndrome.

Do I feel nervous when I send an intro or a pitch to a new editor or outlet?

You betcha.

Do I tell myself I have imposter syndrome and make it so much worse.

Absolutely not.

First of all, here’s the definition of “imposter”:

And here’s the definition of “syndrome”:

According to a continuing education activity on the National Library of Medicine website:

Imposter syndrome is a real thing, and it is possible that you have it. But if you’re not pretending to be someone else in order to deceive someone, then you’re not an imposter.

So here’s what I really think — imposter syndrome is just an overdramatic word for nerves.

I see this term all over LinkedIn, and it often seems like people use this term as a crutch to validate not taking chances or to make their nerves feel so much bigger than they are.

The people that talk about imposter syndrome likely do it as a way to describe their feelings and connect with others and don’t mean anything bad by it, but it can have hugely negative impacts.

First, it’s incredibly detrimental.

Especially for new freelancers. If you’re new to the game and see someone who’s established still lamenting the fact that they feel like an imposter, how is a new freelancer supposed to want to jump in?

It’s also a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you approach a situation with “imposter syndrome”, you’re automatically starting from behind. It’s hard to walk into a situation with your head held high if you feel like you shouldn’t be there in the first place and that you’re deceiving people for fraudulent gain.

Finally, it’s booooring.

I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending. Everyone says they have imposter syndrome. OK, not everyone, but way too many for it to be an interesting take.

Let’s do away with this, shall we?

Best tips for avoiding the “imposter syndrome” trap.

DON’T BE BORING

Be new. Be controversial. For heaven’s sake, be you. Imposter syndrome is a tired old take on an age-old feeling.

BE NERVOUS

Somewhere along the way, we started to give nervousness a bad name. It became anxiety and something to be avoided. I saw it when I was teaching. Students would insist they had “test anxiety.” I would tell them “of course you do…because it’s important.” We aren’t nervous about things that don’t matter. (Caveat: Anxiety is real, and some people do have test anxiety. But more often than not, they were just nervous because it mattered).

When you ask a boy to the dance, you’re nervous. Job interview? Nervous. Buying a house? Nervous. Having a kid? Nervous. First day of school? Nervous. Big speech? Nervous.

All of the best things come with nerves.

Admittedly, so do some bad things, but it’s different (getting a speeding ticket = bad nerves).

Being nervous, having butterflies, getting a little sweaty doesn’t mean you’re an imposter. It means it matters. It means you’re excited. And that’s amazing!

FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT

This is the opposite of imposter syndrome. Instead of approaching a situation thinking you’re an imposter, aren’t qualified to be there, or don’t feel like you can do it, tell yourself in all caps OF COURSE I CAN DO THIS. I’M [FIRST NAME] FREAKING [LAST NAME].

When I started teaching high school, one of my classes was tough. I missed my old job terribly. I felt like there was no way I’d be able to get a handle on things let alone those 17-year-olds who thought they knew everything.

To get through it, I literally repeated “I’m Stephanie freaking Mickelson. Of course I can!” about 50 times a day.

Eventually, I didn’t have to anymore. I got a handle on the class, made friends, and settled in. At no point was I an imposter, and I always deserved to be there. But it was so uncomfortable in the beginning.

Just remember, you don’t have to know everything or feel completely qualified to take steps towards what you want. In fact, when you’re taking a chance or reaching out to an editor or hitting publish on your first paid Substack post (eek!), you’re probably not going to feel completely confident or qualified…do it anyway, and don’t tell yourself you have imposter syndrome — I certainly didn’t.

She started her career selling Stanley Home Products. Her first year wasn’t successful, and she wanted to quit. But then, she attended one of their sales seminars. There, one woman was crowed queen for being the best in a company contest, and Mary Kay, despite her performance during her first year, decided right then and there to be the queen at the following conference.

She found the president and told him as much. The book goes on to say,

“Mr. Beveridge didn’t laugh at me, but looked me in the eye, held my hand and said: ‘Somehow, I think you will.’ Those five words drove me and the next year I was queen.”

In the last week since I read that, I’ve repeated that phrase to myself over and over again. I’ve been talking about how I’m moving my business through a shift and exploring new options when it comes to The Simple Freelancer, and while I am very comfortable being uncomfortable, a lot of that comes from me telling myself that I can do it — even if I don’t fully believe it all the time.

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I don’t remember when I started telling myself that I could do anything I wanted to do, but looking back at my childhood, teen, and adult years, I’ve always done whatever I wanted. Not to the detriment of anyone else, of course. But I’ve always gone after exactly what I wanted and talked myself into believing that I could do it.

When my parents told me I wouldn’t be able to go to the college I wanted because it was too expensive, I found a way anyway.

When I told my friend Bobby that he should hire me as his construction assistant and he said no, I kept asking until he said yes (he also saw that I was a hard worker and fast learner).

When my grad school admissions advisor said I wouldn’t be able to get my entrance testing and application done in time, I did.

When people laughed or rolled their eyes when I said my husband and I were going to pay off my student loan in five years, we did it in three and a half.

When I quit my job to stay home with my kids and had no idea how to make money online, I figured it out.

So my message for you today is that if there’s something that you want to do — somehow, I think you will.

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Welcome to our coffee chat! This is where we talk about all the things I’d imagine we’d chat about over coffee.

📖Reading

I’m currently reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I know I started reading it back in 2020, but I can’t remember if I finished it or not. Either way, it’s the inspiration I need right now!

🎧Listening

I feel like I haven’t had as much time for podcasts lately (read: I haven’t been making enough time for podcasts lately). Any good recommendations??? I’ll always fall back on Office Ladies, but I want to get back into Advisory Opinions because I know there are some important Supreme Court cases coming up.

🤍Loving

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Between three meals a day and 57 snacks, I’m not sure what else I do throughout the day. These are little touches that make being in the kitchen a little more fun!

• Woodenhouse Wooden spoon set - I love how these feel!

• Royal Craft Wood Bamboo Drawer Organizer - Every time I open the silverware drawer, I’m glad I bought this.

• Hobby Lobby Two-Tiered Metal Basket - I love using this for keeping fruit out on the counter.

• Pioneer Woman Dip Bowls - We use these for the kids’ vitamins in the morning and for snacks throughout the day.

• Etsy Schitt’s Creek Towels - I have the Schitt’s Creek version, but there are a lot of other towels with quotes that will make you smile when you dry the dishes.

• Amazon Drinking Glasses with Bamboo Lids - We put stickers on these, so we could tell them apart…but the kids have broken most of them. Loved them while they lasted!

• Yeti 14oz Stackable Mug - This is my ultimate hot coffee hack. I have two of these (and want about 50 more) and use them everyday.

🧠 Thinking

I just posted about my LinkedIn outreach strategy on LinkedIn. I’ve tracked connection requests and acceptance rates as well as the type of messages that I send, how many I send, and how many responses I get. And I have a lot to say. So stay tuned for LinkedIn tips and tricks.

Also, I’d love to answer some of your questions in the Tuesday newsletter, so if you want to ask anything about freelancing, work-life balance, morning routines, resources, LinkedIn outreach strategies, or anything else, you can leave a comment or fill out the AMA Form linked below!

Ask Me Anything!

Ooo, I am excited to be back! I took an unplanned newsletter hiatus as the crazy chaos of summer with three kids (8, 6, and 4) washed over me, but now that all three (!!!) of them are in school, I’ll be sending out weekly editions of The Simple Freelancer and testing out Substack as a new platform.

So this week, I want to talk about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. This has been a theme for me throughout my life as I tend to jump into scenarios that make me very uncomfortable, whether it’s moving to a new state where I only know a few people, choosing a college based on the picture of a fountain on the campus, starting a newsletter, or reaching out to potential clients that make me feel queasy with excitement.

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But still, sometimes these moments take me by surprise. Like how strange it is to set up a new routine with all three kids in school. I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time, while simultaneously not rushing through moments and enjoying the time when they’re all home. It’s weird to look forward to something while also dreading it.

At the moment, it’s a little uncomfortable. The silence. The cleanliness. The ability to do tasks uninterrupted. I’ve written about my morning routine in the past, the one that allowed me to grow a business while I stayed home with the kids. But now that routine is changing. For the first time in a very long time, I slept in this weekend and didn’t do any writing work. It was super weird, and I had to keep reminding myself not to check emails. Now, my mornings are spent packing lunches and making breakfast, knowing that I have the rest of the day to work.

I know that eventually it will feel normal. Just as I made friends in new places and got some subscribers when I started a newsletter (thank you!) and brought on some of the clients that I was terrified to email.

Being uncomfortable typically means that there’s growth happening. So I’ll remember that as I sit here, drinking hot coffee and feeling a little sad that there aren’t any little hands tugging on me. I’ll lean into the discomfort and go through the growing pains and look forward to new routines and new opportunities. And eagerly wait for the school bus’s arrival!

Now that I’m here, I get to put more time into this newsletter and hopefully offer up tips, tricks, and tools that will help you simplify your freelancing business! So tell me:

• What are you doing that feels too complex and could be simplified? I might have some suggestions!

• What new routines are you starting or things you’re doing that are making your feel uncomfortable at the moment?

• Do you have any Substack tips? This is all new to me!

• Feel free to share anything else!

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