A freelancer's vacation: not so free?

Clearly not writing

I just returned from my first vacation as a freelancer. While I was away I learned a lot about my new "free" life.

I've always been really, really good at taking vacations. In my nine years as an IT Consultant, I never once had trouble forgetting about work and knowing that things would move along just fine without me. I actually find it a bit funny when people think they HAVE to check in on work if their jobs are similar to any of my consulting projects ... you know, when the worst thing that can happen for example is that those requirements don't get written by the arbitrary due date that only exists so that the Project Manager can say we have a goal, GASP!

Of course, for the sake of my coworkers, I did my best to leave things in a good state when I closed down my work PC on that last day before taking off (ew, bad flash backs of pre-Mac days), but whatever was done was done, and whatever wasn't would be handled by someone else or waiting for me when I got back. The world most certainly would not cease to exist.

Unsolicited advice from me: When you believe you are always needed at work and that you have to do everything you are asked, people will expect you to always be there and do everything you are asked. No one ever expected this of me because I didn't let them. One of my "secrets" to work-life balance.

Vacationing as a freelancer was very different. First, if I don't work, I don't get paid. Compare that to four weeks paid vacation, which I enjoyed for nine straight years--and always managed to use up each and every year (implied unsolicited advice #2!). As you might imagine, I can't really afford a two-week, unpaid vacation at this point in my adventure. Second, I work alone (mostly). No one to auto-forward my work emails to in my absence for things to be handled for me.

So, I expected to work some over my time away, to make a little money and keep projects moving, but two things got in the way. One, the distractions of family and my completely adorable two-month old niece who has stolen my heart.

Wouldn't you be distracted??

Two, unexpected connectivity issues during week #2. This is what it boiled down to:

• During Week #1 (full connectivity), I got much less done than I planned/wanted. This created more of a backlog of the things that "had" to get done for Week #2, and just created a general feeling of unrest/stress heading into Week #2.

• During Week #2 (very limited connectivity), I got almost nothing done. Every time we went into town I felt like I had to work first and felt rushed to finish whatever I felt "needed" to get done so that I could enjoy time in town with my family. I basically felt at least a little stressed about work until I got to the Denver airport on my way home and was able to catch up. 

This is what I learned:

I care too much about my clients! I left corporate America largely because I didn't care about telecom or cable or collections, so even if I liked some of the people, I didn't care about the end goal of my ultimate client (the big, bad corporation)--but I do care about my writing and editing clients and their end goals. Most of them are passionately pursuing something creative and depending on my help. This is one of the best parts of my job, but it complicates my vacations. That's why I need to ...

1. Plan better for time away, just like I would have at my old job. Tie up loose ends. Tell everyone I can think of (clients) that I will be gone and lean towards assuming I WON'T be available rather than I will be ... even if I think I will be. 



Excuse me cow, I need to get to town for internet access.

2. Put up an auto-reply on email. Would have helped my stress levels immensely to have an automated and professional explanation of my time away. I'm still kinda shocked at myself for not doing this in the first place.
3. Turn down work heading into a vacation. It's okay, I will still have money to eat (I think). Plus, my clients may depend on me, but I'm also not the only writer/editor out there. Again, the world will not end without me! They can find other help as needed, but they deserve advanced notice so they can plan.
4. Plan for enjoyable work on vacation. I did spend a good bit of vacation time editing a novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. Editing is my sweet spot and how I got into this mess in the first place. If I'm going to work on vacation, I should try to plan such that it's work I really like. That way when I get back, I have more time to catch up on everything else.

So, my free(lancing) life is not so free when it comes to vacation. Of course you give up some freedoms when you say goodbye to a high salary, paid vacations, full benefits, and on and on ... but I'll trade those freedoms any day for the flexibility and the joy that I get from freelancing. D'aww.