The free-range freelance worker

spring 2013 with elli in zante

Time to read: 2 minutes

Never lose sight of why you became a freelance worker. It’s all too easy to be constantly hunting down your next job. However, the people (and animals) you love are right here, waiting for you to switch off that laptop.

So I’m comparing tans and my friend, and the puny one says, ‘So how come you keep taking all these holidays?’
’Cos my boss said I could.’ I smirk.
My pithy repost was met with a sigh of exasperation.

Summer 2013 with mum in Devon

Obviously, what my mate meant was, ‘So how on earth do you manage both? To maintain client service levels when you are away for much of the summer? Aren’t you just a humble freelancer at everyone’s beck and call 365 days a year?’

Becoming a freelance worker: A good work/life balance

Summer 2013 with bestie Lynne in Puglia

Autumn 2013 with Moby in Cornwall

However, one of the main reasons I went freelance was to get closer to a good work/life balance. And I’m guessing that’s why you did, too. Spending time with the people that matter most is a big part of that. I can’t imagine you turned freelance to earn loads of money, so once the bills are paid, ‘affording’ time off is a priority. New bike or a cycling holiday? New wardrobe, or a tan? It helps that I usually share my work, so it’s easy enough to ask one of the collective to be at the end of the line if a client needs urgent advice while I’m away.

Who needs a bad client?

Some freelancers shackle themselves to their desks due to a lack of faith in their worth and uncertainty about the future. Do your best for the rest of the year to look after a good client, and a good client will look after you. After all, who needs a bad client?

It should be remembered that the proverbial lament of the self-employed, ‘If I don’t work, I don’t get paid.’ It can be flipped on its head to mean, ‘If I’m ok with not getting paid, I can take time off.’

So this year, I did.

In search of half-term sunshine

Time off in search of half-term sunshine on a farm in Greece, country house coddling in Snowdonia, armed with a dongle, we holed up in Devon for weeks. We then went AWOL on a vast eating tour of Puglia with the annual 50-mile trek around another bit of the Cornish Coast to get back into all our clothes.

Ok, so the blogging, the marketing, the banking, the admin, the networking, the reading… they all need tending. But the clients and I are back on track, and the house hasn’t been repossessed. There’s plenty of time for filing when it’s cold.