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Tag: vacation

  • Yes, Freelance Writers Can Take a Vacation: Here’s How

    Yes, Freelance Writers Can Take a Vacation: Here’s How

    Freedom. Flexibility. A yoga-pants-exclusive work wardrobe. Completely unrestricted coffee pot access.

    To the average office-dweller, the freelance life can sound like one long vacation. But if you’ve actually worked it, you know all too well the inaccuracy of that perception.

    When your home is your office and your laptop is both money-maker and Netflix machine, setting work/life boundaries is difficult. And that’s just within the context of a single day.

    Scheduling a three-day weekend, or even a week-long break from reality? Now you’re talking borderline impossibility.

    But taking a vacation as a freelancer isn’t just possible; it’s critical. Human beings need to take breaks, despite the pride we take in logging long hours.

    And as a solopreneur, you’re doubly in need of a respite. After all, you’re likely wearing all kinds of hats, responsible for every aspect of running your business.

    So here’s how to recharge your batteries — which, unlike those devices you’re so tethered to, you do by disconnecting.

    1. Do not take any new assignments during your scheduled vacation time. (No, seriously.)

    I know, I know. I said this would be easy. And here we are, facing pretty scary stuff from the very beginning.

    As a freelancer, turning down work is hard. Really hard. When you’re not working, you’re not making money; you don’t have the security of next week’s paycheck to fall back on. That much is pretty obvious.

    But it can also feel like an opportunity cost, or sound like a death knell tolled for future prospects. If you say “no” today, who’s to say you won’t wind up on that editor’s blacklist tomorrow?

    As it turns out, open communication is actually a boon to your business, not a detriment. 

    Maintaining a clear line of communication helps editors plan ahead while still ensuring you get the break you need to be the best contributor possible — and your willingness to be honest is just another feather in your cap. 

    2. Work ahead and file everything before you leave

    Not taking new assignments is one thing. But to orchestrate a truly successful vacation, you also need to be able to get away from the work you already have on the docket.

    And that means being super diligent about working ahead and filing your pieces — yes, every single one of them — before it’s time to hit the road. No oh, it just needs a few final touches or last-minute Skype interviews in the airport. (I might be speaking from experience.)

    Take a look at the assignments that are coming due around the time you’re leaving and aim to have them done at least two days ahead of time. It’s all too easy to underestimate the number of hours you’ll need to finish a project, particularly if that project includes interviews or other collaborative, participatory, not-entirely-under-your-control efforts, like editor feedback.

    It’s also way too easy to convince yourself that you’ve only got a few minutes of work to do, which you can easily sneak in while sipping your beach bar margarita. Trust me: those few minutes have a way of spiraling into hours of screen time, which is exactly what you’re trying to get away from. Just say no.

    3. Warn clients ahead of time that you’ll be incommunicado

    Notice I didn’t say “if you’ll be incommunicado.”

    Taking real-deal time away from your inbox is super hard, especially in today’s all-online-all-the-time culture. But it’s also imperative to your continued success and sanity. Burnout is a real thing, and if you never give yourself a break, you may soon find you don’t have a choice in the matter.

    As discussed above, being open about your vacation plans with your editors is one of the best ways to head off miscommunications and missed opportunities. And it also means you can sign out for good without feeling guilt or anxiety — at least in theory. (Actually getting to that guilt-free headspace might take some practice. But you’ve got to start somewhere!)

    Which brings us to the nuts-and-bolts portion of this project.

    4. Set an email auto-responder

    Even if you reach out to all your regular contacts ahead of time, there’s always the chance you’ll miss an important message you weren’t expecting. What will that person think if you don’t respond for a day — or even, perish the thought, a week?

    Honestly, they probably won’t think anything. But when you set an email auto-response, you can bring clarity to the situation — and also hold yourself accountable — by stating the specific date at which you’ll be back in your digital office.

    Exact instructions for setting up your auto-responder will vary depending on your email client, but it’s usually not too difficult. In Gmail, for example, you’ll find the option under the general settings tab toward the bottom. It’s called “vacation responder,” and looks like this:

    As you can see, it’s easy to set a first and last day, and you can create a custom subject line and message. You can also turn the auto-responder off with a simple toggle… but you’re not going to do that until you’re home, right? Right?

    5. Actually leave your laptop at home

    Gulp. I know.

    But for Type A personalities — a trait so many of us freelancers carry — if the option is there, we’ll find ourselves at work despite all our best intentions.

    If you’ve done your due diligence by following the steps above, your bases are pretty well covered. Whatever comes up can wait. You have no reason not to leave your laptop at home… and every reason in the world to give yourself the unmitigated break you deserve.

    6. Disconnect your work email from your smartphone

    That’s right: we’re not gonna let you cheat with that mini-computer in your pocket!

    If you’ve got your work account set up on your mobile device — which, of course you do — finalize your commitment to yourself by disconnecting it. Scary, yes, but temporary; it’s just for the length of your vacation! Though for a real challenge (and a less-insane headspace), you might consider leaving it disconnected for good.

    Flexibility and autonomy are probably high on the list of reasons you pursued freelance work to begin with, so don’t cheat yourself out of benefiting from this lifestyle’s best perks.

    Oh, and enjoy your vacation. Goodness knows you’ve earned it!

  • Freelance Writers Need Vacations, Too. Here’s How to Take One

    Freelance Writers Need Vacations, Too. Here’s How to Take One

    If you’re following my Tracking Freelance Earnings column, you probably noticed that my January Income Report mentioned I was going on vacation.

    From January 31 through February 8, I was on the JoCo Cruise, a geek-themed cruise featuring performers such as Jonathan Coulton, David Rees, Jean Grae and Hari Kondabolu. I go on this cruise every year as both a vacation and an opportunity for professional development — this year, for example, the cruise included a writing track led by John Scalzi — and consider it one of the best parts of my year.

    Because freelancers don’t get paid vacation days, I put in a lot of late nights completing extra work so I would still meet my monthly income goals.

    In addition to working ahead, how else should freelancers prepare for extended trips? It all comes down to two words: communication and planning.

    Prepare your clients

    As I wrote in a recent Ask A Freelancer column, communicating your vacation schedule and availability to your clients is one of the most important parts of vacation preparation. Although I am technically “my own boss” and don’t have to ask for permission to take time off, freelancers lose clients pretty quickly if we get in the habit of disappearing without any warning!

    I started preparing my clients for my upcoming vacation in mid-January. I gave each of my clients three key details:

    1. The dates I would be gone
    2. My availability while I was away (for this trip, I let them know that I had limited access to the Internet and was not planning to check email; in other situations, I might say “I will be checking email once daily”)
    3. The assignments I would complete before I left

    That third point is particularly important, because it helps manage expectations and provide assurance. Clients want to know that their magazine, blog, website or project is going to run smoothly regardless of whether their freelancer is behind a desk or on a cruise ship watching David Rees sing “Shake It Off.”

    Here’s how I addressed this issue with The Write Life:

    On January 14, I let them know that I planned to draft my January Income Report on January 29 and complete any revisions on January 30. Giving my clients specific dates and action items helps assure them that I have a plan for completing all of my necessary work.

    I turned in my Write Life draft a day early, on January 28, which had been my plan all along. It’s an easy way to exceed expectations and give my editors a buffer in case we needed a longer revision process. (Editor’s note: I love this strategy.)

    On the night before my trip, I set up an out-of-office email stating that I would be on vacation and away from email until Monday, February 9. Don’t forget this step! At least one of your clients is bound to forget that you are on vacation, and the out-of-office email acts as a reminder. Likewise, if anyone contacts you about any new work while you are away, the out-of-office message reassures them that you are not ignoring their email.

    Plan ahead to prevent surprises

    The biggest worry I have, when I go on vacation, is that one of my clients will have an expectation about my availability that I won’t be able to meet.

    When I went on the same cruise a year ago, for example, I was working for a copywriting firm that connected me with various third-party clients. One of those third-party clients, not knowing that I was on vacation, sent me a revision request on a project. The copywriting firm was able to manage that expectation and assure the client that I would complete the revision after I returned.

    This worry about managing expectations is one of the reasons why so many of us check email while we’re on vacation — 44 percent of workers, according to a 2013 American Psychological Association study.

    It’s not necessarily the fear of missing work; it’s the fear that someone is going to be disappointed or frustrated that we aren’t immediately able to help them. Good planning helps mitigate that frustration, and advance communication reassures clients that all of their needs will be taken care of either before or after we get back.

    I have to admit that when our ship docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico — where I had domestic cell service — I turned on my phone and scrolled through my messages. I had prepared well; none of my clients had any immediate requests, and there were no surprises in my inbox.

    Get back to work

    The “back to work” phase of vacation is just as important as the planning phase.

    Before you leave on vacation, figure out what your work schedule is going to look like for the week you get back. Are you going to be starting any new freelance assignments? Do you have deadlines to meet? Pitches to send?

    Making a plan before you leave helps you jump straight back into your workflow without wasting time — or, more importantly, losing track of something important that might have slipped your mind while you were relaxing by the ocean!

    I also put in some extra time on the Monday and Tuesday after I got back to catch up on the emails that needed answering. (Just because there weren’t any immediate requests in my inbox didn’t mean that there weren’t about 30 emails that needed a response.) By Wednesday, I was back to my usual freelance schedule.

    So that’s how I handle a freelancer’s vacation. I’ve already put down a deposit for next year’s JoCo Cruise, which means that next January I’ll be ready to start this process all over again.

    How do you prepare your clients before you go on vacation, and how do you handle the transition back to work? Do you check your email while you’re away?