Should You Fill in the Cracks as a Freelancer? Handling Down Time
As a freelancer, every once in a while I have a couple of hours where I would have liked to have scheduled work for a client but I wind up with nothing. Over the years, I’ve taken a couple of different approaches to this sort of crack in my time: I’ve been known to take those hours off, to work on my own projects and to even pick up work on bid sites. There no single way that freelancers should handle spaces in our schedules, but there are a few factors that can be key to deciding what approach will be most beneficial in the long run.
Your Goals As a Freelancer
Many freelancers keep a number in mind — an amount that we must wind up with in our pockets at the end of the week or the end of the month. That number may mean the difference between paying all the bills. If not having paying work for every hour you’ve set aside for clients means that you won’t meet the number that you have in mind, it can quickly feel like your options are limited. Such a situation can make something like writing for a content mill or offering a low bid on a bidding site feel like the best choice. It may mean that you could wind up working even more hours than you’ve initially scheduled, at a lower rate than you usually work at, but it means that all the bills get paid.
We do what we have to do to make sure that the bills get paid. If, though, there’s some flexibility in your schedule, taking on more work — especially low-paying work — may not be the most effective use of your time. A little extra marketing done this month can help keep a similar problem from occurring next month. Similarly, investing some time in your own projects can help you meet your long-term goals a little sooner than just trying to fill in the hours with work from clients. It’s important to take a look at your options and decide what will really help you accomplish what you need to during the free hours in your schedule.
The Need for Down Time
The hardest thing for many freelancers to shoehorn into our schedules is down time — time away from our work. But when you are essentially being paid to be creative on demand, taking some time for yourself is important. If a few hours come up empty, using them to recharge can mean that you don’t have to face writer’s block, burn out or other issues that can slow down your work.
The forms that useful down time take differ from freelancer to freelancer. Going to a museum and seeing how other people can be creative can help one freelancer, while another can benefit from just getting out of the office and thinking about anything but work. If you can take advantage of it, a hole in your schedule can be an opportunity to find a little extra down time.
The Flexibility of Freelancers
One of the benefits of having a freelance career is that we have flexible schedules. That includes not only time when we want to do something other than work, as well as hours when we’re willing to work but just don’t have anything on the schedule. It’s the trade-off of that flexibility and it’s important to find ways to turn it to our advantage. That can mean doing something to land more clients in the future, working on a side project that will bring us passive income in the future or just taking the opportunity to make sure that we don’t burn out.
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Seems like there is never down time.
if i find myself foreseeing downtime all i have to say is “wow i have some free time this week” and i get a phone call from a client wanting something done by yesterday!
That sounds familiar
I think a good thing to do when you have hours that you can’t bill to a client is to take that time to practice a new skill or learn something new. Try to find something to do to grow as a freelancer. Of course this isn’t real “down time” because you are still working but reading about new topics, catching up with people on twitter, or playing around in photoshop is generally not as strenuous as trying to meet a deadline or work your way through a problem on a client project. This is kind of a half-break that works great mid-day to keep you from burning out but also prevents you from being entire unproductive when you feel like its not quite time to relax yet.
I agree with the other commenters that there doesn’t seem to be much downtime. However, when I do have some, it’s a great way to catch up with writing some blog posts and scheduling in some Twitter messages.
But, then again, the joy of freelancing is you can create your own timetable, so if I have a meeting that gets cancelled, I can use that time to do something totally unrelated to work, like visiting an exhibition mid week.
I’m using my downtime to prospect for new business. In short, it’s cold-calling time, baby!
@Martha…
What has your experience been with cold-calling? Mostly positive?
What would you say is a percentage of work you actually secure from cold-calling? I’ve never used cold-calling as a marketing tactic but I’ve many say it works and many say that it is a complete waste of time.
I’d love to hear your experience with it!
I recently cut back to get some DIY home improvements out of the way. I’m not gonna lie – the lack of writing projects makes me nervous! Will I ever be busy again? Will my clients get mad at me for taking a break?
I have to keep in mind that I got here once. I can do it again. I think.
Downtime always scares me so I have to work on my own projects and usually try to do something around the house so I can get my mind off of it.
If I’m lucky the project is involved enough that I don’t think of the lack of work and I will accomplish something on my own.
If not. My wife gets an earful about how bad I am at my job and how I need to fix my business.
Fortunately and unfortunately, I have been having a month long downtime. While it’s killing me because I haven’t had a client in a month, I’ve used this to practice my marketing skills and practice my design skills. My next goal is to possibly learn another coding language that would really improve my skills.
My point is: while downtime hurts your business, you can counteract it by honing your skills, trying out different marketing techniques and by learning new skills.
Writing blog posts and taking the time for retrospective are usually valuable things to do (Quadrant II tasks, in Covey speak
)
Also, building up your website / portfolio is a good down-time task.
When I first started freelancing, downtime was something that I was looking forward to. Being able to work when I want and having the time in-between projects to do whatever I wanted. After a couple years of freelancing now, I feel downtime is still good and much needed but at the same time I always feel unproductive when I’m not working on a project. Now I mainly use downtime to work on personal projects or something to benefit my freelance status as back then I would have just took it as a day to rest, go out, anything but work.
I am absolutely guilty of filling that free time with work – any work – and neglecting marketing.
I don’t even want to think about what my hourly rate averages out to at the end of the month.
But the bills get paid.
@Miss Britt….
Sometimes, as long as the bills are getting paid, it all seems to be alright huh? I’ve been there and done that!
It can be hard to really figure up hourly rates and averages when freelancing because the work load and schedule differ month-to-month.
I typically use downtime to work on other personal projects, but lately, I’ve been using it to get out of the office and find other creative inspiration.
I find that simply driving over to the park with my camera and shooting some photos is a great way to recharge and get away from the desk for a bit.
Downtime is good for everyone, even though you are not getting paid. It really helps to recharge, get things in order, and work on building a better you!
Great article and some interesting comments too.
Every one has quiet times but I’d agree it’s best to use that for marketing/teaching yourself new skills and not to get too desperate and sell yourself short with cheap work.
..plus a little bit of recharge time to watch the world cup can’t be all bad!