by Leo Wiles
28 September 2016
Hi Rachel and Leo. I’ve been freelancing for almost 18 months now without a break and wondered how you handle taking time off. N
I get it. It can be tough taking a holiday when you’re freelance. But actually, breaks are essential. Not enough freelancers take them until they are forced to due to burnout or a pending divorce.
Funnily enough, I just drove our dusty car back onto the grid after a camping adventure. As soon as the satellite picked us up my phone it went nuts. And, while I expected the mountain of laundry, empty fridge and tired kids to deal with, but I hadn’t planned for the avalanche of ‘It’s urgent’ client messages that greeted me.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, though; you can’t foresee ALL client needs when you do go off the radar – something that may resonate with many freelancers out there who’ve found themselves attending to client issues when they want to be sipping a cocktail by the pool!
In the past I have taken my laptop and phone with me and checked in once the children have gone to bed in order to keep the work pipeline going. Now I’m older (and I think slightly wiser), I doubled up and completed all my regular gigs before I went, outsourcing jobs that needed me to physically be on site while I took the children away.
But now I’m putting off making beds and heading to the supermarket in lieu of dealing with client dramas. And that’s life in our business.
So my advice would be to:
a) Pick a date for your holiday
b) Complete all work in advance for when you’ll be away plus a few days’ buffer after you return
c) Let your clients know you won’t be available during certain dates
d) If you must be available for some clients, figure out who you need to engage with and set clear boundaries (ie, I will be available between 4-5pm for a Skype call update about your X project).
e) Learn the Serenity Prayer off by heart and remain calm if/when things hit the fan (and bear in mind things that are suddenly ‘urgent’ could be due to a stuff-up at their end).
Are you freelance? How often do you schedule time off – or take a proper holiday?
