Neurodivergent, going self-employed?

[Startingagainandagain]

Like many people with the condition, it has affected my ability to find and keep permanent employment.

My work history keeps following the same pattern: I find a job, do OK for about a year (good performance reviews) then reach burnout, can't cope with doing the same thing over and over again, struggle with public transport, mental health nosedives and I end up needing more and more days off sick, then when I declare my mental health issues and that I am neurodivergent to try to explain what is happening I end up being treated poorly by my employer.

I had my worst breakdown/burn out this time last year and had to be off work for almost two month and under the care of the Crisis Team and I am feeling poorly again.

I have had enough of this endless cycle.

Has anyone managed to become self-employed to at least be able to work more flexibility and improve mental health?

If so what do you do as a job?

I have mainly worked for charities in marketing, web design, social media management, copywriting and fundraising, but I am willing to try any career that would allow me to work for myself and would love to hear any positive stories for inspiration.

Yes, but you will need support for the bits that stress you or that you'll ignore.

So in my case, if I didn't have DH, I'd need a pt PA & a cleaner.

Yes - but you need to be really cautious about what you approach. I started with social media because I love it, but it's a race-to-the-bottom industry, and there's a lot of pressure. Clients can expect a lot for not very much pay, and you're constantly fielding people throwing things at you. You also have to be able to constantly sell yourself, handle rejection and complaints, and keep up to date with all the general admin.

Web design is a bit easier because not everyone thinks they can design a website! It's not really my forte, but I got a lot of enquiries which I passed over to a local web designer, and she makes it work well by having set packages and costs, so people know exactly what to expect and how she works, and that helps her to plan her days and her energy around what she needs to do.

I now do strategy work, which has been really good for me for 7 years or so, but this year has been the hardest ever and I am debating a return to full-time work for stability, even though I have a similar problem to you and it never really works out for me. Recessions mean marketing budgets are hugely cut, and there's a lot of apprehension around marketing overall in the UK at the moment, lots of agency job losses and mergers etc, so it's a tough time to be self-employed and also to make yourself continually promote yourself to crickets. The vast majority of my work this year has come from referrals but even those have had very stretched, tight budgets this year.

I don’t know if I’m ND (have been told I probably am by people qualified to say, but not an actual diagnosis, however if so it’s not hugely impactful) but I am freelance and it’s helped a lot with the things I found difficult about being employed in an office - I hated office politics, meetings, the lack of privacy and silence, smalltalk and other expectations like office parties.

Your skills are really good for being self-employed. Any of them could be the basis of a self-employed career but combining them is better, as it gives you more options and chance of keeping enough work coming in. I do project-managing, editing, proofing, writing, picture research and a few similar things mainly for publishers and magazines. You can work for any organisation as a social media manager, doing websites, copywriting etc so you’re well placed.

However, while it can solve some of your issues, it is demanding because you have to plan very carefully to make sure you have enough work lined up but not too much, you have to keep on top of things like keeping accounts, invoicing, replying to emails, putting money aside for tax, paperwork etc, and it might not bring in a full income at first because it takes time to build up clients. You are also not immune from having to do the same thing over and over, at least sometimes. And as PP says, you might need someone to do certain things if you can’t face it, eg tax return.

What I would do in your shoes is have a look for remote WFH marketing and copywriting jobs, of which there are plenty on LinkedIn and other places, maybe something part time so you can start adding in freelance work. There are freelance jobs advertised but you can also send out mailshots offering your services. Repeat business is important to keep the work coming in so try to build relationships with clients and always be nice and amenable with all contacts (that’s my top and most effective tip).

Could you start by asking your current employer if you could WFH and/or work for them on a freelance basis?

Thank you everyone for the replies so far.

To answer some of your queries:

• I don't want to freelance for my current employer. It is a very toxic workplace & they misrepresented the job at the interview stage: I was told it was a WFH role with one day a month, if that, in the office. Six months in the role they tried to make me come in once a week. My commute is 4 hour in total and this pressure played a major part in my breakdown. They were also reluctant to put in place reasonable adjustments, until Occupational became involved and reminded them of their responsibilities
• I don't want to do the basic day to day website and social media updating and would prefer to concentrate on strategy and project management
• I would be very happy to retrain/try something different
• I completely agree with social media/marketing being a race to the bottom with employers/clients having unrealistic expectations. For example I am employed to work 3 days a week but have to produce a full time workload and do everything from website, social media, designing publications, internal comms and campaigning which is an impossible task
• Yes, a part-time job that is fully remote would also work for me.

@Startingagainandagain how are you getting on? I was just reading your thread after searching Social Media Management as it's a field I'm looking to enter as a freelancer.

I hope you're out of the toxic work place and looking after yourself.

I'm on waiting list for autism and ADHD assessments.

I'm a self-employed gardener. I've been doing it longer than any other job I've ever had. I can listen to music or podcasts on headphones while I work. I choose my customers and my hours. It's all local to me and I work part time. I get lots of positive feedback from customers and love being outdoors. I get a natural break over the winter too, which suits me well, then I can look forward to getting going again in the spring.

Cons - the hourly pay sounds ok but I have no sick pay or holiday pay (or pension at the mo), and barely earn anything in Jan/Feb.