exercise

Quieting the Noise: Finding Focus When Your Brain Won’t

October 29, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

Can I ask you a question?

Where’s your head right now?
Anxious about what’s coming up?
Worrying about something that already happened?

You know you can’t change it, right?

You have to let it go.

Calm under pressure doesn’t come from ignoring the chaos; it comes from learning to move with it.

There are days when it feels like your brain is running on 47 open tabs, and instead of closing any of them, you just keep switching between windows, hoping the mental clutter will sort itself out. But it doesn’t. It piles up…until you can’t tell what’s urgent, or what can actually wait.

That’s mental overwhelm. And when it happens, your focus drifts.
You find yourself staring at your screen for fifteen, twenty minutes, not working, just staring off into space. Grocery lists. The show you’re watching. The cat’s food bowl.

I’ve been there. More times than I’d like to admit. In a week.

That’s when I know it’s time for a real break. Not a scroll-break or a match-3 game on my phone, but something that resets both my body and my mind. A short walk. Some shoulder rolls. A few deep breaths.

Because mind and body work together. When one gets stuck, the other can help it move again

The Cost of Staying in the Loop

When we ignore the need to pause, hydrate, and reset, our muscles, and our minds, rebel.

The stress → distraction → self-criticism → more stress loop hijacks attention and creative flow.
Overthinking tightens the throat before a voiceover session. Chronic tension leads to burnout and creative paralysis.

As freelancers and creatives, we often confuse busyness with productivity. We chase the next task, the next notification, the next idea, hoping that motion will feel like progress. But overstimulation fractures focus and motivation.

So ask yourself: Am I really being productive… or just busy?

Sometimes what you need most isn’t another hour at your desk — it’s three minutes of box breathing, a glass of water, or spending time in Child’s pose.

Finding Calm Within the Chaos

You can’t control what’s happening around you (deadlines, algorithms, family life, etc.), but you can control how you react to it. That’s real calm under pressure.

Start small. Create space to think. And breathe.

Here are a few ways to move from chaos to clarity:

Pair mindful breathing with gentle movement. Shoulder rolls, neck or arm stretches, or a quick forward fold can bring you back to the present.
Create “stress circuits.” Physical loops of motion. It could be a short walk or a repeated series of mini stretches to break the stress loop and reset focus.
Do a “Guilt Workout.” A workout for people who feel guilty about taking time for self-care. Take a restorative nap. Or something more active. Active recovery for the mind and body helps you recharge.
Declutter your digital space. Journal, tidy your desk, or turn off notifications for thirty minutes. Reclaim your attention.
Practice mindful motion. A walking meditation or mantra-based movement helps you find stillness within motion, not apart from it.

Let’s be honest: the chaos never really stops. If you wait for calm before you start, you’ll never start.

When panic hits, keep breathing. Keep moving. The pieces will fall back into place. And you’ll feel better, and clearer, as you get unstuck and begin moving forward again.

If this resonated, listen to the full Freelance Fitness episode, “Quieting the Noise: Finding Focus When Your Brain Won’t.”
It’s ten minutes of movement, mindset, and calm in the middle of your workday.

Back in the Game: Finding Your Rhythm After a Freelance Break

October 22, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

Sometimes Life Forces Us to Pause

I’ll be honest — I’ve had to step away before.
From the gym. From my creative business. From the momentum I’d worked so hard to build.

And if you’re a freelancer, you probably have too.

Maybe it was burnout. Maybe a family emergency. Maybe financial pressure.
Or maybe you just needed a break…and that’s okay.

Because Life Happens.

There’s no shame in pausing. None.

The list of now-successful freelancers who had to take a salaried job at some point is long. Really long.

Here are just a few. Maybe you can relate.

You didn’t fail…you just paused.
And that pause might have been exactly what you needed to rebuild with intention.

You Can’t Rush a Comeback

When I was recording a slow core strength workout for my podcast, it struck me how perfectly it mirrors what it feels like to re-enter the freelance world after a break.
The movements are deliberate. Controlled. Grounded in presence, not speed.

You can’t force your way into flow. You ease into it.

And that’s the mindset freelancers need, too.

Because let’s face it: we tend to beat ourselves up when we lose momentum.
We compare ourselves to others who “kept going.”
We imagine the soreness before we even start.
We anticipate the struggle before we take the first step.

But that’s wasted energy.

Acceptance — real acceptance — doesn’t mean giving up.
It means acknowledging what you can’t control: the market, the algorithm, your health, the unpredictable timing of life stuff.

I once worked in research, and we used to say:

“Your constants aren’t, and your variables won’t.”

In other words: the only constant is change.

Sometimes that means pivoting, adjusting, or even taking a job that isn’t your dream gig, but helps you stabilize for your next chapter.

And that’s not weakness. That’s wisdom.

Start Small, Stay Consistent, Be Kind

So how do you get back into the game?

Start small.
In fitness: one slow, controlled rep.
In freelancing: one updated demo. One email. One message to reconnect with a past client.

Momentum begins with a single action.

Choose consistency over intensity.
You don’t need one massive burst of motivation.
You need small, repeatable habits that stack up, like stretching after every workout instead of waiting until you’re injured.

Stay adaptable.
Maybe your old clients moved on. Maybe your niche evolved.
That’s okay. You’re not starting from zero. You’re starting from experience.

And finally, celebrate your return.
You showed up. That’s huge.

Whether it’s your first cold email in months, or your first creative project after a burnout.

That’s courage.

Acceptance and support don’t make you weaker.
They make your comeback sustainable.

Because you’ve done this before.
And you can do it again.

Over to you:

Have you ever stepped away from freelancing and had to find your rhythm again?
What helped you get back into the game?

Let’s share what real resilience looks like — slow, steady, and sustainable.

For the audio version of this blog with music, fitness and fun, listen to the Freelance Fitness podcast.

Marketing Your Creative Freelance Business: How, Where, and To Whom

October 15, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

Marketing. Ugh.
It’s like going running on a cold rainy day. You know it’s good for you, but you don’t really want to.

You may be the most talented creative in your field but if no one’s heard of you, your business isn’t going to grow. SEO can help, sure, but it takes time. And unless you’re paying a premium to stay at the top of everyone’s searches, that could take forever.

So, what do you do instead? How can you make sure the people who want to hire you actually find you?

How, Where, and To Whom

Let’s start with how to advertise your creative freelance business : the methods, channels, and approaches you can take.

There are two big categories of marketing:

Broadcast marketing (to many people at once): social media, blogs, podcasts, newsletters, or even paid ads.
One-to-one marketing: cold outreach, networking, collaborations, and word-of-mouth.

Cold emails scare a lot of creatives. I get it. For the longest time, I told myself, “No way, I’m not sending emails to strangers!” But we’re not talking about spamming here. I started with just five emails a day — specific, personalized messages to people in companies that hire voiceover talent.

It was small, consistent effort that paid off months later. People I’d emailed got back to me with auditions and job offers, sometimes ten months later. That’s the power of showing up. And don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a reply. People are busy and often save those emails for a rainy day. Don’t assume you’re being ignored.

When it comes to how you market, choose methods that align with your strengths:

Love writing? Start a blog or newsletter.
Work with visuals? Post short videos or reels.
Work with sound? Record a podcast or audio samples.

Pick one medium you actually enjoy, and do it consistently.

Then comes where to market yourself. That’s the space your audience hangs out, online and in person.
LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or niche job platforms for voice actors like Voice123 or Bodalgo can all work. Figure out where your industry buyers live.

And don’t underestimate in-person connections: local networking events, conferences, or casual meetups. Just remember to read the room. Some spaces are for pitching. Others are for listening. (And yes, never corner someone in the bathroom — not cool.)

Finally, to whom should you market?
Not to “everyone.” Your ideal client is specific.
Who would you love to work for? Who values what you do? Who has a problem you can solve with your skillset?

Think about their industry, role, goals, and even company size. The way you pitch to a marketing director at a big agency isn’t the same as how you’d approach a small business owner who does everything themselves.

Why It Matters

Why be so specific? Because general messaging doesn’t resonate.

If your posts or outreach aren’t aimed at a clear audience, they’ll fall flat, or worse, get ignored. When your message has focus, your ideal clients self-select and think, “She’s talking to me.”

Being strategic with your “how,” “where,” and “to whom” helps you:

Stop wasting time shouting into the void.
Build visibility where decision-makers actually look.
Attract work that’s aligned with your goals and expertise.

And here’s a truth I’ve learned in both fitness and freelancing:
Consistency beats intensity.
You don’t need a massive marketing push once a year, just steady effort that compounds over time.

Take Action

Start with these three steps:

Pick your channel.
Choose one marketing platform or method that feels natural and doable for you.
Show up where it counts.
Find out where your ideal clients hang out — both online and offline — and focus your energy there.
Reach out to real people.
Make a list of two or three dream clients, and write them a short, thoughtful email explaining how you can help them. Then…and this is the hard part…hit send.

There are no guarantees in life, only risks worth taking.
You won’t always know how your marketing will turn out. But if you don’t try, you won’t grow.

So get out there, stay authentic, and make those future clients glad they found you.

——————————————————————————————–

Want more?
This article is based on my Freelance Fitness podcast episode, “Marketing Your Creative Freelance Business: How, Where, and To Whom.”
Each week, I coach you through a 10-minute workout and a creative business challenge — because building endurance matters in both.

Listen on your favourite platform, and let’s keep growing — in business and in strength.

Martyrdom: Clients Don’t Care if You Fell on Your Sword to Deliver

October 8, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

Let’s talk about martyrdom.
Sounds a little dramatic, right? But in freelancing (and in fitness) it shows up more often than we think. Especially when people broadcast all the sacrifices they’re making to hit deadlines.

Honestly? I don’t think anyone really cares.

Fine. Your loved ones care. But your clients? Not really. They’ve got their own worries and deliverables. Whether you give them a long speech about how you stayed up all night to finish their project, or whether you suffer silently in hopes of some karmic reward, it’s really unlikely that it moves the needle on how they perceive you.

The myth of the overworked freelancer

There’s a common belief that in order to succeed as freelancers we have to prove we work the longest hours, that we’re always available, that we’ll put clients above our own health and family. But let’s be honest: clients don’t hand out brownie points for sacrifice.

No one’s giving you a medal for averaging five hours of sleep. No bonus points for posting selfies of yourself hunched over a laptop at the beach or at the playground while your kids are playing. Some people might click “like,” but they’ll scroll on and forget it a second later.

What clients actually care about is that the file lands in their inbox on time, with quality that meets or exceeds expectations. That’s it.

The cost of falling on your sword

Occasional late nights? They happen. But if working until 4 a.m. becomes your brand, you’re only creating exhaustion.

For freelancers working across time zones (voiceover artists like me know this all too well), it’s tempting to believe you have to be “always on” because it’s always 9 a.m. somewhere. But running on little sleep, skipping meals, or sacrificing family time is not a sustainable long-term strategy. Burnout doesn’t just hurt your health—it hurts your business, your creativity, and your relationships.

Sleep is not optional. Sleep is critical: for recovery, for focus, and for showing up at your best. I tell my teenagers they’ll know they’re real adults when they actually look forward to going to bed. And you know what? They’ll find out I’m right.

Personally, I’ve learned that I need at least 6 hours of sleep to function, and ideally 7-8. If I try to push through with less, I’m not more productive. I’m grouchy, unfocused, and not doing my best work. Clients don’t hire me to be a zombie. They hire me to bring fresh energy and creativity to their projects.

Professionalism ≠ martyrdom

Performative overwork is a trap. If your most productive hours are at midnight, fine. But ask yourself: what message are you sending when you make a show of it?

Many freelancers think “going above and beyond” will wow the client. But often, the client just assumes that level of sacrifice is your baseline…which sets you up for unrealistic expectations.

Look, we’re creative freelancers, not brain surgeons. We don’t need to be available 24/7. What earns repeat business and referrals isn’t suffering, it’s systems. Reliable processes. Clear communication. Consistent delivery.

So go play with your kids. Have dinner with friends. Get some sleep. Post about that if you want to share something. Clients don’t want martyrs. They want partners who can deliver good work over the long haul.

Instead of proving how much you endured, prove how enduring you work.

For music, exercise and business tips, listen to my podcast Freelance Fitness.

Don’t Let the Numbers Run Your Business: Why Stats Matter—but Perspective Matters More

October 1, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

We talk a lot about numbers in freelance creative businesses.
Income. Leads. Followers. Website traffic.

Just like in fitness: weight, reps, or heart rate.

And yes, those numbers matter. They help us track progress and see if the plan is working. But here’s the thing: any one number never tells the whole story.

You can have a spike in social followers with no paying clients.
Or hit a new fitness goal and still feel sluggish.

Numbers are a tool, but they aren’t the whole truth.

The Role of Metrics

Numbers give us feedback. They show whether a strategy is moving us closer to our goals.

When I launched my podcast Freelance Fitness, I didn’t just hit record and hope for the best. I made a list of every step required to produce an episode: writing, recording, editing, mixing, publishing. I refined that plan as I went. That’s how consistency happens—through process.

But a process without metrics is blind. You need clear, measurable, and attainable goals to know if your efforts are paying off. Otherwise, you’re just guessing.

Has your monthly income increased since you made a change?
Are you closing more deals?
Has that new software saved you time?

Metrics help answer those questions.

The Danger of Obsession

The problem comes when we obsess over one number.

I’ve fallen into that trap myself. I got hooked on impressions and likes. A viral post gives you a rush, but in my world (voiceover), impressions almost never translate into clients.

It wasn’t until I shifted focus to writing posts directly for my target audience, the people actually in a position to hire me, that I saw real results. Fewer likes, but more clients.

Here’s why any one number is misleading:

Numbers don’t measure quality. 10,000 impressions aren’t worth much without real engagement.
Context matters. Ten demo listens from the right clients beat 100 random website views.
One metric can distort your focus. You risk ignoring the bigger picture.
Business health is multidimensional. Income, repeat clients, efficiency, reputation—it all counts.
Numbers fluctuate naturally. Algorithms change, seasons shift. Don’t tie your mood to a rollercoaster.

A Balanced Approach

So how do you balance the usefulness of numbers with not letting them control you?

Track the basics. Choose 2–3 meaningful metrics. Not everything needs measuring.
Check in regularly, not obsessively. Weekly or monthly reviews are enough.
Pair numbers with reflection. Does the data align with how you feel about your business?
Stay flexible. Running a business is like hitting a moving target: trial, error, adjustments.
Seek perspective. Ask peers how they measure their progress. Sometimes you need an outside view.

At the end of the day, numbers should act like a dashboard, not a single flashing warning light.

They guide you, but they don’t define you.

Freelancing is iterative, like creating a recipe: you try, adjust, and improve. Even if something doesn’t “work out,” you’ve learned, collected data, and moved further ahead than where you started.

So yes, keep track of your numbers. But don’t let them run the show.

What’s the one metric you find hardest not to obsess over in your freelance business?

From Workshop to Workflow: How to Actually Apply What You’ve Learned

September 24, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

Continual education is in our DNA as freelancers.

We sign up for workshops, upgrade software, hire coaches, and attend conferences because we know our industries evolve constantly. Nobody wants to be the dinosaur that goes extinct.

But there’s an overlooked challenge:

How do you integrate this great new knowledge into your workflow?

We’ve all been there. You spend time and money on an amazing class, grab shiny new software, or attend a weekend conference. You come home inspired, buzzing with ideas… and then Monday hits. Client emails are waiting. Projects need attention. Suddenly, “integration” gets shoved to the side of your desk—and forgotten.

Six months later, the guilt sets in.

I can tell you honestly: I attended VO Atlanta last year, and I still haven’t looked at the session recordings. Not one. And yes, I still tell myself I’ll get to them before next year’s conference. I’m equally guilty.

So why does this gap matter?

Learning without practice fades fast. That workshop glow disappears quickly if you don’t put it into action.
New skills only stick when applied. That’s how they become second nature.
Integration builds confidence. Once you’ve used a new tool in real work, you stop second-guessing.
Your investment pays off. Money and time spent only deliver ROI when skills become part of your workflow.

And yet, freelancers are busy. Balancing client work, admin, and growth is messy. Add anxiety into the mix, and the pressure feels even heavier. (Trust me, my brain has gone down the “what if my computer crashes mid-session?” spiral many times.)

The good news? Integration doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are some practical steps to bridge the gap between knowing and doing:

Six Steps to Move from Workshop to Workflow

1. Shift the Mindset

Stop thinking of practice as “extra.” Treat it as part of your job. Use a live project as a testing ground, even if you don’t end up using the new tool in the final result.

2. Micro-Practice Beats Marathons

Forget the mythical “free afternoon.” Ten minutes of focused practice adds up. Try “skill sprints”: one feature, one shortcut, one vocal drill. Done.

3. Prioritize and Filter

After any class, pick three takeaways you’ll actually use. Not thirty. Ask: What’s immediately useful? What can wait?

4. Schedule Integration Time

Block 30 minutes a week for an “integration lab.” Protect it like you would a client deadline.

5. Build Accountability

Tell a peer what you’re working on. Track your reps in a journal or app. Visible progress motivates.

6. Extend Yourself Compassion

Struggling with new tools doesn’t mean failure—it means you’re learning. Even partial integration is progress.

The Payoff

When you consistently fold new knowledge into your workflow:

You reduce guilt.
You increase confidence.
You create a stronger, future-proof freelance business.

As I said on the Freelance Fitness podcast:

“Sounds like something you can handle, right? Of course you can. Once you’ve broken it down into little chunks, like this workout, that can fit anywhere in your day. Sky’s the limit.”

ALISON PENTECOST