Note from Jennifer: One of the best things about freelancing is the flexible schedule. Ask anyone. Many writers tell me they will never go back to a ‘regular job’ because freelancing gives them the ability to juggle work and family with less stress, and others find that freelance work makes it possible to take more vacation time without sacrificing income. That’s a big part of Kristin Harper‘s experience, and I’m thrilled to share her guest post on why 2017 was her best year ever! Visit Kristin’s website to learn more about her work. Thanks for sharing your story, Kristin! 

by Kristin Harper, PhD

When I began freelancing three years ago, I couldn’t get over the fact that the more I worked, the more money I made. That certainly wasn’t the case at my last job, in academia. There, even if I spent the weekend toiling in the lab, by the time Sunday night rolled around, my only reward would be the gnawing feeling that I still wasn’t working quite enough. As a freelancer, I suddenly found myself in a whole new world. Now, if I spent the weekend working, I was rewarded with the glorious promise of a big check in the mail in thirty days’ time. It was exhilarating!

Drunk on my newfound ability to control my income, I worked A LOT that first year. The good news was that my income was far higher than I had anticipated, especially important because I was my family’s primary breadwinner at the time. The bad news was that after a year of working on weekends, with no real vacations, I felt totally burnt out.

I should have been on cloud nine. Able to totally control my schedule for the first time, I was only working with people and companies I liked, on assignments I was excited about. But without any downtime, even sitting down to work on some of my dream projects started to feel like a slog.

By the end of that first year, I realized that parking myself in front of my computer day-in and day-out was not the life I wanted. Ever since then, I’ve made it a priority to build time off into my schedule. In 2016, I started taking every weekend off and curtailing my hours to a reasonable number. I even took the week between Christmas and New Years off. And in 2017, my best year ever, I took six glorious weeks of vacation.

How I Did It

I started planning for all of this vacation time at the beginning of the year. Looking at my family’s calendar and the trips that we wanted to take in 2017, I decided that six weeks of vacation would be ideal. But the thought of taking that much time off was frightening.

My biggest concern was cash flow. Every week, I try to hit an income goal. Although this has been great for keeping me on track, being so attuned to my weekly income can also make the thought of taking time off a bit terrifying. I am acutely aware of all of the money I am foregoing each week I choose not to work.

To get over this fear, I reminded myself that I was happy with my total income for 2016. So if I could maintain my yearly income at that level in 2017, while still taking six weeks off, I really wouldn’t have any excuse for weaseling out of my vacation goal.

Keeping my yearly income constant while working five fewer weeks was actually a lot simpler than it sounds. I just raised my rates. I realized that clients were willing to pay more for my services, and I began to price projects accordingly. As a result, I was able to increase my effective hourly rate by 13% in 2017. This made up for the fact that I worked 10% fewer hours that year. Much to my surprise, most clients didn’t even blink when I quoted them my new rates. I wish I’d had the confidence to increase my rates much sooner!

Another worry was that my clients would be upset about my frequent absences. This concern turned out to be unfounded. I was careful to give all of my clients generous and repeated notice about my upcoming vacations, and I made sure that any loose ends were taken care of before I left.

In hindsight, I realize that things probably didn’t change much from my clients’ perspective. I typically require anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months to book new projects, so the folks I work with are used to planning our work in advance. In their eyes, me being on vacation probably wasn’t very different from me being busy with other projects. No big adjustment was necessary.

The last key to making all of this work was not letting myself check email during my time off. I know plenty of freelancers who check email on vacation, and might even do a little work on urgent projects. But I know myself. If I were to check my email and see a message from a client, it would eat away at me until I answered it. I wouldn’t be able to relax knowing that something, however minuscule or non-urgent, was left unfinished. I could easily spend half my vacation working or thinking about work left undone.

So to create a time in which I can truly relax, totally free of work obligations, I make sure that my clients know I won’t be checking email or doing any work during my vacations.

The Benefits

All of this vacation time had the benefits that you might expect. I got to spend more time with family and friends. I saw new sights. I made new memories. I read lots of great books. I cooked elaborate recipes. It was just as awesome as I’d hoped!

But there was an unexpected benefit too. You know how great ideas often come in the shower? Allowing our minds just that little bit of time to relax and wander gets the creative juices flowing. For me, taking a vacation is like a shower on steroids. I come back from each break feeling rejuvenated, with tons of new ideas and a rekindled enthusiasm for my work. Often I can barely wait to sit down at my desk and start putting those ideas to use.

In addition, I’ve found that when I am stuck in the day-to-day rut of work, it’s easy to neglect the big picture: where I want to be in one year, or 10 years, or 20 years. Taking a break from work gives me the time and space to dream—and to figure out what steps I need to take to pursue my dreams. Paradoxically, stepping away from work helps keep me on track to meet my long-term career goals, as well as my life goals.

These weren’t the only unexpected benefits of my time off. I found that by raising my rates to make all of this vacation time possible, I was also able to raise the overall caliber of my clients. The clients who were happy to pay my new higher rates also turned out to be organized, appreciative, and respectful of my time. This is a lesson I wish I’d learned on my first day of freelancing: clients who assign a high monetary value to freelance writing often value freelancers highly in every respect, and they tend to be a pleasure to work with.

Anyone Can Do What I Did

Until this year, the minimal amount of vacation I took was shameful, and I know I am not the only freelancer who has allowed herself or himself way too little time away from work. When you make your own hours, giving yourself permission to stop working can be surprisingly difficult. The same qualities that allow us to run successful businesses—our drive, desire to please clients, and devotion to our work—can prevent us from giving ourselves the breaks we need. I’ve noticed that many of us are much harder on ourselves than any boss could ever be.

If you are yearning for more time off, I hope that this post will convince you that it’s possible. If you are a workaholic and the thought of six weeks off is unthinkable, maybe you can take just a couple of weeks off this year, to prove to yourself that vacation will work wonders for your sanity and that your business will weather your time away just fine.

Now that I’ve proved to myself that taking six weeks of vacation is perfectly reasonable, I plan to do it every year!

How does freelancing help you achieve work-life balance? Did you take a significant amount of vacation last year without flinching? Leave a comment below and share your tips!