How to Take Time Off as a Freelancer

Welcome to The Modern Editor Podcast, where we talk about all things editing and what it’s like to run an editorial business in today’s world. I’m your host, Tara Whitaker. Let’s get to it.

Hi there. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We are going to be chatting about taking time off as a freelancer because yes, you do need to take time off.

When we are our own bosses and we are wearing all the hats, it can be more difficult to take time off, but if you weren’t aware, we are all humans, and we all need breaks. There are no bosses around telling us when we can or can’t take time off, which is great, but it also means that it is all up to us to take care of ourselves when it comes to taking time off.

So we’re going to talk about how to take that time off, both planned and unplanned. We’re going to talk about how to arrange your schedule so it’s more conducive to taking breaks, how to work with some trusted colleagues, and how to honor the time off that you do take. So let’s get right into it.

I do want to start off by saying that this is going to be a lot easier said than done. We all lead different lives. We have different needs and responsibilities. So please, as always, with anything you hear from me, take or tweak what works for you and leave the rest. And I will be very honest here in saying that I have been a full-time freelancer for eleven years and I still have some problems with taking time off.

So I’m, again, learning right along with you, but I am definitely better at doing it now than I was when I first started when I was a newbie. So for planned time off—it can be anything: a vacation, a medical procedure, whatever the case may be, a summer vacation or summer break when your kids are home—whatever it is, put it in your calendar as soon as you know what’s happening.

And then in whatever method you use, block out that time so you and your clients know that you’re unavailable. So if you use Google Calendar, for instance, or you have a family calendar or, um, whatever that method is, make sure you put it in there ASAP. And don’t forget to block off time leading up to the thing and recovery time after.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the whole, like, sometimes we need a vacation after the vacation. I implement that for myself big-time. So if I’m away on a vacation, let’s say I’m gone Thursday to Sunday, I for sure am blocking out my calendar the Wednesday before I leave, and I’m blocking out the Monday and Tuesday after I return.

That doesn’t mean I’m not working Monday and Tuesday, but it means that I don’t have to talk to anyone on Monday or Tuesday if I choose not to, because I need recovery time, and I need to get back into the groove after I’m gone. If you’re the same way, you’re introverted like me, that’s a great way to buffer in that recovery time for yourself that you desperately need.

Now, after you block the time off, you’re going to let your clients know. Both current clients, if that’s applicable, and potential clients. And again, this is going to look a little different depending on how you choose to communicate. But if you have a current client that this will affect—so, for instance, you’re doing an editing project and you’re not going to be available to answer any questions they have in between passes or something—you’re going to let them know because the last thing you want them to think is that you ghosted them or, you know, the ever-present fear of running off with your work and stealing it, which we would never do. But, you know, the fear is real and it’s there. You don’t want them to think that you just ghosted them and went MIA. Tell them if you are not going to be available.

Now, if a potential client reaches out and wants to work with you while you’re planning on being away, you can either offer to do it when you return, you know, if they really want to work with you, they can wait, or you can refer them to a colleague.

And this is where having that trusted group of editors and a community of peers can help you provide that exceptional service to your clients, even before they’re actual clients, right? So the last thing you want to do is have a potential client reach out, who took the time, who wants to work with you because they contacted you, for you to not be available and then just be like, “Hey, sorry. Okay. Thanks. Bye.”

At least give them options and refer them to people if possible. Now, I know when you’re first starting out, that can be a little more difficult, but that is why it’s so important to find your community and a group of people, a group of peers, a group of editors that you can always refer out to.

Now, I always make a note of this. Always, always, always make sure when you’re referring someone that that author or client vets the editor you recommend. That editor might be your BFF and the best editor that has ever graced Planet Earth, but not every author or client and editor are a good match. Right? They can be a great editor, but it might not be a good match.

So ensure they do their due diligence and also make sure that you reach out to the editor you’re referring them to first to see if they’re even interested and available. Because you also don’t want to refer someone before asking and then have the client reach out to them and the editor go, “Oh yeah, sorry, I’m out too” or “Oh, that’s not the genre I edit” or, you know, whatever the case may be.

You don’t want to send that potential client running around in circles. So check with the editor first and then always tell the author to make sure that they vet the editor for their needs or whatever project they have. And then another thing you can do if you’re going to be out is you can email a subscriber list if you have one of those or post on social media if you want a wider audience to be aware of your availability.

I personally don’t do that. I’m a little more private when it comes to that, but everybody’s different, right? So if you want to let people know that way, you certainly can, totally up to you. 

And then if you know that you’re going to be gone ahead of time, I have found that it is so much easier to prep and take care of as many things as possible before I leave, whether that’s physically, you know, like I’m going to another location or if I’m having a staycation or what have you and I’m just unavailable.

Some of these might be applicable to you and some might not, but honestly, everybody should probably set an out-of-office email responder. I’m pretty sure every email provider at this point offers that. So set that up before you go with clear dates of when you will be unavailable or whatever your availability is.

Make sure it is in there. Make sure you say when you will respond when you return. Because I have totally had an out of office on and said, “Hey, I’m going to be out of the office Monday through Friday. I’ll get back to you when I return,” and then Monday at 8 a. m. I’ve got them emailing me again. Like, calm down, calm down.

So say when you’re going to be able to respond. Again, if you want to post on social media, if you’re comfortable with that, I will just say for pure safety reasons, I would never recommend saying that you’re gone physically from your home on vacation while you’re gone, but that’s just me being Mama Tara, but you know. You do you.

And then other things that I do before I leave, and I’m, you know, sometimes I’m really good at this and other times I’m not, I like to clean my house before I go. I clear off my work desk. I have everything prepped and ready to go for when I get back. We have groceries in the cart on our app so that when we are on our way home from that vacation, we schedule the groceries to be delivered as soon as we get back. If that’s a service available to you, that’s a great one to kind of alleviate that stress of returning.

I try and get all the laundry done before I leave so that all I have to do is just dump all the suitcases out. If we’re gone, you know, right into the wash and call it a day. Or my husband too, he does laundry as well. Planning any pet-sitting or plant-sitting or babysitting needs before, and then, you know, just trying to do all of those things with whatever, you know, is a part of your life ahead of time, because when you get back, when you know, well, I should say when you’re on the vacation or the medical leave or whatever, when you know that you’re returning to a state of calm, it can really help you relax while you’re away. Otherwise, at least for me, if I was sitting in a hospital bed and I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I have so much laundry to do when I get home and all the dishes are piled up” that’s not helping me recover.

So I try to get as many things done as possible beforehand with the caveat that I’m a human and that doesn’t always happen and it’s okay. 

Now before you take some time off, it is always a good idea to check your budget and your financials before you go. The last thing you want to be worrying about is money, which, I mean, for many of us right now, money is a concern, so it’s not like it’s going to just go away. But if you can, if you know ahead of time and you are in the financial ability to do so, it’s nice to save ahead of time so that you can plan for that time period if you’re not working. I know that’s not always possible, though, 

You can always see if you can pause any subscriptions while you’re out or away, especially if it’s a lengthy time away. For example, a medical procedure or something, if you’re going to be out for weeks, it’s good to see if you can pause anything while you’re out, you know. Make sure all of your bills are paid before you leave or scheduled to be paid while you’re out.

And then I’m always a big advocate of having a budget. And knowing what the budget is before I go on a trip, a vacation, or what have you, or, you know, you can only guess so much in the US how much a medical thing is going to cost, but knowing as much as possible can help alleviate some of that stress. I personally use YNAB, which stands for You Need a Budget.

I’m a certified YNAB coach, so I help other freelancers who have variable income sort of smooth out that roller coaster and really get clear on where they stand financially with their business, but you can use whatever system you prefer: Excel sheet, Google Sheet, some other app, whatever, but knowing your financial situation ahead of time can help. I guess, on the other hand, it can be more stressful, you know, but at least knowing is better than not knowing. Even if you’d rather not know sometimes, you know, check that if you can, like I said, for planned time off.

Now for unplanned time off, things are going to get a little compressed. They’re going to be a little different depending on the situation. You know, is it an emergency, is it just “I just don’t feel like working today,” you know, there’s a big range there, but a good way to plan ahead for unplanned time off, which I know sounds funny, is to always keep a buffer or white space in your calendar.

Especially when creating deadlines for clients. So we know life happens, and it’s going to happen, and it’s going to happen at the most inconvenient time possible. You’re going to get sick, a kid’s going to get sick, you’re going to have a flare-up, you’re going to need a mental health day, maybe you wake up and you’re just like, “Meh, I don’t want to today.”

You’ve already got some downtime factored in. So this is especially true when it comes to deadlines. Because we are the ones that are dictating those deadlines, right? I am always in the boat of under-promising and over-delivering. It is always better to allot too much time for a project than too little.

If you happen to schedule three weeks for an editing project, and you get it done in two weeks and five days, amazing! Technically, you’ve got two free days. There’s your time off right there. 

But what happens if you scheduled three weeks for something and you scheduled every minute for this editing project and then, boom, kid gets sick? Now what? You already scheduled yourself so tight. There’s no wiggle room now, right? Now it’s either contacting your client to push out your deadline, which is, you know, it happens, but it’s not something we love doing. It’s putting in extra hours. It’s, you know, it’s not being there fully for your kid, which is never a great thing.

Like, always over—no—under-promising and over-delivering is going to save your butt so many times. It’s saved mine more times than I can count. Under-promise, over-deliver. Buffer in those few days, or a week, or two weeks, or whatever that time frame is. 

Let’s say you have some sort of chronic illness that you know that when you have a flare-up, you’re out for a week. Factor in an extra week for your deadlines. There’s nothing wrong with that. That way, if it does happen while you’re working on a project, you don’t have to worry about it. You’ve already factored in that time. Then you can focus on you and your recovery and know that when you’re recovered, the project will be there and everything can just move on as planned.

I will say this: as soon as you know that you’re taking time off, let your current clients know only if it affects their deadlines. I kind of did this when I first started out and I quickly realized that I didn’t need to do this. If it doesn’t affect their deadlines, your clients don’t need to know if you’re taking a day off, or a week off, or two weeks off.

They’re not your boss, they’re not HR. As long as you’re delivering the work you promised to them by the deadline you agreed on, they don’t need to know. They don’t need to know if you’re working twenty-hour days, two-hour days, in the middle of the night, first thing in the morning, with your kid next to you.

They don’t need to know. Like, none of this is information that matters to them. So don’t overshare when it comes to that, but definitely communicate if it is going to affect them. If you need to push off a deadline, absolutely tell them as soon as humanly possible and try not to make it a habit. Again, you know, I get it. I’ve done it. But when you factor in that buffer time that eliminates, or at least pares down, the times that you’re going to have to push off a deadline because you already made accommodations for it.

And you might know what I’m going to say next, cause I’m kind of leading into it, but please give yourself grace. You cannot be grinding all the time. If you need to push a deadline, be up front, be communicative. Remember, don’t ghost, don’t go MIA. Try not to make it a habit, you know, again, the buffer time, but you’re doing the best you can with what you have. And be okay with that. I am telling myself that constantly, I am certainly no expert at it, but it’s much easier to tell you to have grace for yourself than it is to have it for myself, but I’m working on it. I’m working on it.

And this also leads fantastically, didn’t even mean to do that, into my next point, which is no matter what type of time you’re taking off, whether it’s planned or unplanned, and one of the toughest parts, is to honor your boundaries when you’re taking that time off. If you set up that out-of-office reminder that you’re not checking email, don’t be checking your email.

If you say, “Hey clients, I’m going to be unreachable for these two days” don’t be talking to them those two days. Don’t. What we do is very important and I don’t want to make it seem that it’s not, and this might be a little dramatic, but most of us are not doing anything that is life or death. If we don’t respond to an email within two days after we told people we are not going to be responding within two days, and they still email because they have some sort of crisis or emergency, it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay.

Like, I can’t think of anything editing or publishing related that is so important that it would require, like, immediate communication from you as an editor, unless, of course, there are always circumstances and deadlines and stuff, but if you’ve said, “Hey, I’m out of office for today, and I’m not going to be around” and they’re like, “Okay, cool,” and then they still disrespect that boundary and reach out, not cool. Not cool. But also, if they see you disrespecting your boundary, they think it’s okay to disrespect your boundary.

So if you’re not going to respond to emails after five p.m. during the weekdays, and you do, you’re just disrespecting yourself, your business, your time, and you’re showing your clients that it’s okay for them to disrespect your time and your boundaries too. And boundaries are so hard. They’re so difficult to maintain. I’m right there with you, but we have to remember as business owners to respect ourselves and our businesses enough to take the time to take care of ourselves. Because without us, the business doesn’t exist.

We all deserve time off, full stop. We don’t earn time off. We just get to take breaks and have time off because we’re human beings who need to function. That’s it. And if we have a boundary in place, we have to keep it ourselves in order for other people to respect the boundary as well.

And one final thing. I know I keep talking about like, vacations or time off. I want you to remember that you don’t have to take weeks off at a time or have these full-blown bajillion-dollar vacations or anything like that.

I’m a huge fan of sprinkling half days off and random full days off in my schedule. It’s funny in my coaching program I’m in, every Monday I go through a list of things, kind of analyzing my business. And a question I ask myself every week is “What time off do you have scheduled? What fun do you have to look forward to?”

And it’s really made me look at my calendar and go, “Wow, I don’t have any time off scheduled.” Or if I do, it’s because the kids don’t have daycare or school and I have to be off. It’s not, I’m just going to take a random Tuesday off, and, I don’t know, watch a show all day or read some books or nap or whatever the case may be.

And since I’ve started sprinkling in that time off, uh, amazing. Amazing. And I know I’m a broken record at this point, but with burnout too, sprinkling those days off and time off is going to help curb that for sure. If you have something to look forward to, if you know that you’re going to have dedicated time off where you don’t have to do anything, it really helps with the day to day.

And it helps stave off that burnout as much as possible, along with a whole bunch of other things. But it’s just one ingredient in the recipe for preventing burnout. They’re also easier to schedule. I mean, it’s not very easy at this point in my life to schedule a whole week off of something. I got to know in advance. There’s a lot of moving parts in my life. So if I just happen to take a half day on a Friday or a full day on a Friday, who cares? That’s no big deal. Like, I don’t have to rearrange anything else. I just take the day off and I do whatever I want and it’s glorious.

So that’s it for today. I hope that gives you some helpful tips on taking some time off when you’re running, you know, a solo business, when you’re a freelancer, we’re all works in progress, but the more we practice doing something, the better we get at it.

So the more time we take off, the better we get at it. So here’s my challenge for you today. Once you’re done listening to this, I want you to go to your calendar right away, and I want you to schedule some time off. I don’t care if it’s an hour, a half day, a full day, three days, a month, whatever. Go schedule it and keep that promise to yourself. If we have any hope of functioning and helping the world be a better place in whatever way that looks to you, whether it’s editing, publishing, writing, volunteering, social justice work, whatever, we do need to rest. We just can’t function without it.

Now, after you schedule that time off, I want you to DM me over on Instagram @taramqwhitaker, or I want you to send me an email at Hello@TaraWhitaker.com so I can help you keep yourself accountable. I’m not going to judge you. I’m just going to be there for support. So tell me what you’re going to take off and what you’re going to do during that day off. If it’s nothing fantastic, or if you maybe have a certain project you want to work on, or you want to go somewhere, what have you, I want to hear all the things, let me know. I’m here to support you. 

All right. So until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and know that you deserve to rest. 

Thank you so much for tuning in to today’s episode. If you enjoy The Modern Editor podcast, I would be so grateful if you left us a review over on iTunes. And as always, you can head to TaraWhitaker.com to connect with me and stay in touch. We’ll chat again soon.