Plan ahead

Planning ahead for your vacation and getting all your work in order is one thing, but another important aspect of vacation planning is your return.

Ideally, you’ll want to ease back into your schedule instead of returning to a long list of must-dos or urgent work that needs to be done. If possible, get ahead of your workload before you go away. Now is a good time to review your tasks, identify any that can be automated, and then set them up before your holiday. Preferably, you should implement systems that work autonomously.

For example, if you have client invoices and statements that need to be sent either when you are away or on your return, schedule them to be sent automatically. With Invoice Ninja, a leading free invoicing software specifically designed for small businesses, you can schedule the sending of invoices, statements, and chasers via email. Try it for free here.

Some people feel they need another vacation to rest and recuperate from their original vacation, so another way to ease yourself back in is to add a buffer or gap day at the end of your vacation. This is a free day for you to acclimatize, rest, or simply use it as a goal-setting or planning day.

Revisit your ‘why’

If you feel like you’re returning to work and back to the same old routine, and nothing is inspiring you, now might be the perfect time to revisit your ‘why’. Why did you start your business in the first place? What’s your overriding goal or passion? What’s your super skill and special value you bring to your clients? 

All these questions can be used to motivate you, as well as provide an objective overview of how far you’ve come and whether you’re on track with your freelancer goals or if you need to set some new ones.

It might even be that you see a new opportunity or need to pivot. Taking time out can be an excellent opportunity for your creativity to take over, so you can return to work not only refreshed but with a new outlook. When we let ourselves relax, our minds can better problem-solve, and we come up with new ideas.

If you need to revisit your ‘why,’ you could even consider writing a manifesto or visually placing your ‘why’ near your workspace so you can remind yourself of it when you need a motivation boost.

Do something you enjoy

A good way to get your freelancer mojo back is to start back with an activity that you enjoy.

This could be an activity involving your super skill that adds to your profit margin – always something to get you back into the groove. Perhaps you have an exciting new project lined up to start upon your return, or you’ve planned to attend a networking event where you can catch up with other freelancers to inspire you. You could even consider hosting your own event or simply check in with business colleagues online.

Another great way to get back in the freelancing mood is to check in with your regular clients and follow up with previous ones – they may even have new projects available where you’d be the perfect fit.

You could also consider changing your workspace around, giving it a nice spruce up, and even adding some of your latest vacation snaps for added inspiration. If you have the budget, you could even consider getting it redecorated while you are away.

Simple actions like the above can help shift your perspective and put you in a positive and productive frame of mind.

Finally, don’t forget to plan your next vacation!

But you probably didn’t take into account the extra hours you’d be working, how to plan for a vacation or take time off for the holidays.

If this sounds like you, here are 6 things to consider to avoid freelancer burnout and enjoy some excellent work-free quality time.

Plan ahead

Whether you are going on a long vacation or just taking a short break away to recharge your batteries, it makes sense to plan ahead.

What you don’t want to be doing is rushing around in a mad panic, trying to meet deadlines on your last working day before your time off – as this will inevitably increase your stress levels and most likely lead to mistakes and oversights.

Give yourself a few days buffer both before you go away and when you return. You can do this by breaking down larger tasks and getting them done in advance.

This will, of course, require a few tweaks to your daily workflow, but if you plan for it, the few extra hours you spend getting stuff done spread out over the weeks and days will be worth it.

Let clients know in advance

Let all your clients know ahead of time that you will be taking time off. It would also be sensible to remind them a week before and then again a day before you plan on taking time off. People have busy schedules and can easily forget.

If you have a shared calendar or use a tool such as Slack, make sure you note that you are away. You could even include the dates you are away in your email signature.

Likewise, leave an out-of-office message on your emails so that people will know you are on leave and will get back to them on your return. Alternatively, if you have a team or VA, you can ask people to refer queries to them. The key is to ensure emails are responded to, even if it is telling them you are unavailable and won’t be reading your emails until you return.

If you are planning an extended break, you could consider finding cover for your regular clients – perhaps another freelancer in your network could help with the workload, or you could consider sub-contracting if this is acceptable according to your contract.

Automate your invoices

Just because you are on vacation doesn’t mean you can’t send out your invoices and get paid.

Invoice Ninja, a leading free invoice software specifically developed for freelancers and small businesses like you, offers a user-friendly interface for creating and sending professional-looking and custom-branded invoices.

You can save time by automatically billing long-term clients with recurring invoices (so you don’t need to do a thing). You can also make good use of our Bulk Email Invoices & Quotations feature by quickly selecting multiple invoices and emailing them out together before you go on vacation. You could even add a message to your invoice letting clients know when you are away.

If you are waiting on a client deposit, Invoice Ninja has a partial payment feature that can convert a deposit invoice into a regular one once the client has paid it.

You can focus on relaxing – we’ll help with the invoicing!

Try it for free here.

Social media marketing

If you use social media for marketing your business, you can bulk-create content and schedule posts in advance.

You can do this via the social media platform itself (if it allows) or use a social media scheduler. Some social media schedulers allow you to create and view all the content for different platforms within the app, so you don’t need to switch between platforms.

If you have an email newsletter, you can also create it and schedule it to go out in advance.

So, as far as potential clients, email subscribers and social media followers know, you are still ‘active’ and therefore staying ‘top of mind’.

Plan finances ahead

A significant factor for freelancers taking time off is that, unless you have passive income streams, you don’t get paid for time away.

This makes planning in advance even more crucial for freelancers. Ideally, you should incorporate time off for vacations/holiday periods in your freelance rates. So, when setting your rates, don’t assume you’ll work 52 weeks per year (or all your hours are billable).

There may also be slow periods in your freelance work that are specific to the industry you work in (or the nature of the work you undertake) that need to be taken into account. In any event, you should add some buffer for any potential freelance feast and famine cycles.

You could also consider creating passive income streams to act as an additional buffer. These can be anything from affiliate income, info products, courses or even subscriptions. Budgeting in advance for your vacation might also be a good idea, so you save a bit each month.

Set boundaries

Setting appropriate boundaries is not just for your clients (so they don’t contact you when you are on vacation) but for yourself. It can be tempting to whip open your laptop while vacationing just out of curiosity or feel like you are ‘missing out’ or that there might be an important message you just have to read.

However, once you start doing this, it can quickly become a slippery slope, and you could find yourself working over the holidays instead of enjoying quality time with loved ones.

If you’ve properly planned ahead – there’s no reason for you to be working on vacation.

However, if an emergency work situation does arise and you have to work – limit your time as much as possible, and don’t beat yourself up about it.

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We hope these tips were helpful.

Wishing you an enjoyable well-deserved vacation and Happy Holidays!