Going on vacation usually sounds like a normal thing for many office working people, but for freelancers – it’s different. More and more freelancers are calling themselves anywhere workers, which means that they work while traveling too. In this article, we will try to create a simple yet very useful guide on how to plan your vacation as a freelancer.
How can freelancers and online business owners unplug and take a well-deserved rest?
The term vacation is different for each one of yes, yet it’s definitely different for freelancers than for regular office workers. Can you truly unplug and go 100% offline when you are running an online business? Some remote and online workers continue working on their vacations, but at least think about doing necessary tasks only. It’s important to remind yourself that everyone needs a complete vacation from time to time because on the other way every online business owner may face burnout. Continue reading this article because we are bringing you amazing tips and advice which will help you to enjoy your well-deserved vacation as a freelancer.
Freelancers must plan their vacations ahead
When we say ahead – we truly mean that. Think about all the projects you have and all those clients you work with. Some of them probably cannot pause or stop their business, they need you all the time. Therefore, it’s a must to plan your vacation ahead and to include clients in that, too. Tell all your clients at least a month ahead that you are planning a vacation. Be specific about the time you’ll be absent, and about the type of vacation, you plan to take. As mentioned already, some online workers will continue doing at least some tasks while on their vacation, while others will want to totally unplug.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to unplug 100%, but if you work on projects that cannot stop, or at least require some social media posting, talk with your client so they can find a substitution while you’re absent.
Don’t try to memorize everything. Instead, use your calendar to write down information related to your vacation and share it with other online workers you collaborate with.
*An amazing piece of advice would also be to ask your clients if they can give you some work ahead. Most freelancers actually complete more work than usual before they take a vacation. This will not only make you look like a professional and help your client but will also help you when you come back. Once the vacation is over, but you’ve already completed double work ahead, you won’t experience headaches while receiving tons of work.
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Going on a vacation and budgeting as a freelancer – how to do it?
Obviously, as a freelancer that’s planning a vacation, you’ll have to think about every single thing ahead. In one of the previous articles, we have already explained the difference between freelancers and employees. If you are an employee but still a remote worker, you’ll probably have your free days paid as well. But, for freelancers, this may be challenging. When freelancers don’t work – they simply don’t earn money and therefore usually don’t have enough money. When you add vacation costs to that, you may become a little bit scared about how will you manage all those costs. That’s the reason why you must plan your vacation ahead and put some money aside. Don’t put money aside for a vacation only, but also for when you come back home so you don’t have to hurry your clients to make milestones before time.
Freelancers who know how to set boundaries have increased life satisfaction
We have advised you to do ahead everything you can and to plan ahead as much as you can, but that doesn’t mean how you should stress about it too much. Know when to set boundaries. For example, you will work a little bit more before the vacation, so you don’t have to work on vacation, or so you don’t have to complete dozens of extra tasks when you come back home. But, you must set healthy boundaries – think about how much of your free time you can spend on extra work. Some say that three hours should be your daily maximum, but our advice would be to set it from one to two hours. This way, you won’t feel too much stress but will help yourself have a great rest and fewer obligations once the vacation is over.
Tasks that cannot wait
If there are some tasks that cannot wait and you know you’ll need to complete them on your vacation, think if that suits you. Maybe you are capable to complete those obligations via smartphone. This way, it will still be a little bit easier for you to work on some short and quick tasks, rather than to turn on your laptop and feel like you are just an anywhere worker, but not a freelancer on the vacation.
Freelancers must set boundaries for their clients as well
We told you to set boundaries when it comes to working some extra hours before your vacation, but if you are not about working those extra hours, set boundaries with clients. There’s is also a posibility to find a subcontracting work, or better said – to offer some other freelancer or remote worker to complete the needed tasks while you’re away.
Every freelancer is different, so some will want to make everything done before going on vacation, while others cannot wait to start their vacation and cannot accept working extra hours before taking that well-deserved rest.
If you have enough money and if taking a rest is more important to you than earning some extra cash, then you know what you should do. It’s the same the other way around.
It’s easy to conclude that freelancers should definitely plan all parts of their vacation ahead, and not only that – but also think about what they can do before the vacation starts to make everything easier for them when they come back home. Be sure that you complete as many obligations as possible, and do that ahead. Save money and think about if you’ll have enough financial stability when you come back home, so you won’t have a need to stress about it. Yes, the point of every vacation is to take a rest and fulfill your batteries 100%, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t like to have everything in order when you come back home too. We are sure that you are a great planner for your entire life since you are a freelancer. People who know how to organize not only their work time, but also their free time and finances are always successful remote workers, online business workers, and freelancers.
Freelancers should also focus on their goals and needs while planning a vacation, because as said those who are completely fine with their financial vacation will probably hire someone else to complete their tasks – if needed, while those who have just started their freelancing careers or face financial problems will think about keeping everything in order, no matter what it takes.
We hope that this article has helped you to plan and get ready for your well-deserved freelance vacation.
Have a great time!
