How do you make it work?

📗Wellbeing and Creative Careers by Mark Deuze. And a new parliamentary group for digital creators.

Hiya, how you doing?

Tomorrow night, Westminster Uni and Intellect Books are hosting an event to celebrate the launch of

Mark Deuze

’s new book, exploring wellbeing and mental health across the media industries.

The book is a personal ‘passion project’ for me, having worked as a freelance journalist for many years, playing (as an amateur) in Skinflower since the late 1980s, and documenting the lives of media professionals around the world since the late 1990s.

My research explores the paradox at the heart of creative work: the very passion and joy that drive people to careers in journalism, advertising, film, television, music, games, and online content creation are also what put them most at risk of stress, burnout, and ill health.

Vital work and something we can all relate to.

I’m looking forward to reading it and hearing what others have to say - here’s the preface.

He says he wants it to be an open discussion “about how we can move this forward, focusing on what works and what makes life better for professional storytellers (whether these would be reporters, musicians, ad creatives, game developers, filmmakers, and so on).”

In my 20s, I worked as a runner for a kids’ TV production company - my first paid media gig after graduating. Salary aside (£80/week), there were other warning signs about what I was getting into. Long hours. The wrap of coke that fell out of the producer’s pocket in the office. I should’ve asked him for a promotion when I handed it back ;-)

In my 30s, I burned out juggling love and money projects while solo parenting, which led to my RA. Body says NO after years of weird working, which is why I prioritise my health now.

And more recently, a different kind of burnout that comes from doing client work I don’t feel aligned with or appreciated for. How heavy I feel after doomscrolling social media and spending too much time consuming negative news.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole portfolio career thing and trying to make peace with it - the generalist vs. specialist debate (seen articles praising both as a super skill), and the nagging feeling that I’m not where I should be at this time of my life - not sure that ever goes away!

I’m a bit restless too - not looking forward to winter, so I need to go shopping and get my hygge on.

What would help?

• Having more structural support, e.g. biz coaching, access to funding. Financial stability is everything, especially in an expensive country like the UK. I had a DM this week about grant opps but wasn’t eligible to apply as a sole trader - the usual story.

• Not heard much about the ‘freelance champion’ (demoted from commissioner) but we have a new parliamentary group for digital creators. Creators contributed £2.2bn to the UK economy and supported over 45K jobs in 2024, yet there’s no classification code for digital creators at HMRC.

• Getting paid on time - see the NUJ’s #StopTheFreelanceRipOff campaign and take part in the Govt consultation by 23 Oct.

• Digital skills - we have to pay for our own training, events, conferences, memberships, subscriptions etc, AND take unpaid time off to learn.

• Affordable workspaces and social events bringing creators together. I do my best to mix it up, but full-time coworking and offices are expensive.

What’s helping me personally as a nerdy firstborn, chronically online person who gets obsessed with things:

My new Kanban: monotasking! I love it. Pomodoros, music, and co-hosting the Writers’ Café.

Knowledge work never ends, and to-do lists are linear and get longer. I realise I need to gamify things, make it fun, and be more embodied at work to feel connected to it.

Moving Post-it notes around this board is very satisfying and helps with overwhelm. I can also see what I don’t wanna do!

“Think repay Julieta should be written bigger.” 🤠

Prioritising fitness and being physically strong. Dr Lifestyle said I need to do some strength-training as well as the running (apparently, we don’t build muscle after 70, so I’d better get on with it).

How do you make it work?

If you have a story or tip to share, leave a comment or email me at nika@nikatalbot.io.

N x

PS The Leapers’ 2025 study on mental health & self-employment is open - a plea from me to take part and share it. Ta muchly! 🙏