How to Take Time Off When You're a Freelancer
by Ashleigh Kluck
Being self-employed as a freelancer means you have to bring your work with you on vacation—or to the hospital when you’re in labor—right? Wrong. Taking a leave of absence—whether for a much-needed vacation or the arrival of a family member—is possible, and other freelancers have done it successfully, and lived to tell the tale.
Being a freelancer doesn’t mean your clients should expect you to work 24/7. Today, we’re going to walk through the items you need to have in place in order to take a leave of absence, without stressing out about the workload that’s awaiting your return.
Before we begin, consider this my Part Two of how to live the freelance life. If you haven’t already, start with this article: How To Set Boundaries As A WFH Freelancer.
(1) Determine if/when you’ll respond to requests
If you’re going to be completely unavailable, make sure that is explicitly communicated to your clients—in writing—ahead of time. Picture sitting on a beach with a cocktail in hand, or trying to nurse your newborn baby at 6 a.m. when a Slack message comes through for an “emergency.” This relates to setting up communication methods and working hours when starting your business. If you’ve held firm on your communication boundaries from day one, it won’t come as a shock to your clients when you don’t respond immediately.
(2) Complete your work ahead of time
This is where it gets tricky as a freelancer. The type of work you do will determine whether you can stockpile assignments ahead of time, or if you’ll simply miss out on work (and pay) during your leave.
For example: As a social media manager and marketing copywriter who works with other agencies, I typically complete a month’s work of content ahead of schedule as a general practice. If I were to take a week’s vacation, I would simply add a week or two to that content schedule in order to cover my bases until I returned.
Planning an extended leave requires more preparation and intention. Take a look at your needs during the time off and, if possible, make up the work ahead of time so you can sustain yourself during the time off.
(3) Set up invoices for when you’re away
If you’re going to be out of office during the time you normally send out invoices, there are a couple of different ways you can go about this. First, set up automatic payments. This works well if you do the same work for the same pay each month. If your invoice amounts vary, send it out early with a notice that your client can still pay at the regular time each month. They might even pay you early!
Part of being a freelancer means you get to create your schedule. You get to determine what you work on and when, but this also requires you to be honest with yourself on the lifestyle you want to live.
Success to you might look like a three-day workweek that allows you to spend more time outdoors, while someone else might associate their success with making a specific dollar amount each year, requiring them to work a little more. Both are valid, and both offer different types of flexibility and freedom.
Ashleigh Kluck is the owner of Volt Station Media, offering DIY & Done-For-You Email Marketing for online coaches and e-commerce brands. Her expertise lies in crafting launch campaigns and nurture sequences that cut through the noise to sell high-value products and services. She’s also the host of the “Mamahood Is A Trip” podcast, where she shares all the wild, wonderful, and “why is this wet?!” moments of motherhood, all while traveling full-time in an RV with her husband Jake and their daughter, Oakleigh.
