Make Your Own Statutory Holiday
As some of you might have noticed, I am Canadian. It’s apparent in some of my writing – color/colour, humor/humour, affluent/effluent – but for the most part, it really doesn’t matter.
This past Monday was a statutory holiday in my province (that’s Canadian for state), but because I have many American clients, it wasn’t much different than any other Monday. The kicker – the rest of my clients are Canadians, so I can’t take the American holidays off either. Ohh, poor freelancer. No more long weekends.
So, I’ve figured out a few ways to create my own stat holidays, and give myself a few long weekends.
- Book the day off – For the next three months, I have booked the third Monday of every month off. This way I can schedule the rest of my assignments around it, and enjoy a few long weekends.
- Get ahead of schedule – I am a master procrastinator, but I am taking steps to get the job done before the deadline. Apparently this will decrease stress, and increase revenue. Who knew?
- Lose the guilt – I strive to be available for my clients whenever they need me, but in order to provide them with brilliant concepts, I need to recharge my batteries every once in a while. I’ve chosen not to feel guilty.
- Be like Nike – “Just Do It” (which apparently their spokesperson took a bit too literally)
What are your thoughts on long weekends? How do you make sure that you do what needs to be done, while still having time for yourself?
Leave a Comment
“affluent/effluent” <- Is that a joke or just poor education?
your choice
Well one of the benefits of working from home is that you can choose your own timings and work at your own pace. So you could sometimes choose to have a day off, or indeed have a long weekend.
Kindest,
Nabeel
Agreed – but i find that if i have sparetime, i will try and use it to try and find new biz. Balance is a toughie!
Good for you! I was having trouble taking weekends to myself for a while, and burned out pretty quickly.
I’ve learned that I’m way more productive and happy when I take some time for myself!
As a fellow Canadian, I hope you managed to enjoy at least some of Monday!
Thanks for the support Kathryn – fantastic website, too!
i prefer pixels as a side with my espresso
It’s healthy behavior every once in a while. We all like to sit back and chill every now and again
As a fellow Canadian I understand completely, and like you I came to the very same conclusion. From the get go, I decided to take Friday afternoons off so that I could have a bit of a long weekend every weekend. That turned into no evenings or weekends either (for client appointments at least).
In spite of the initial fear that this might put people off, they wouldn’t call back, etc. it’s actually been commented on numerous times. People appreciate that I walk my talk. If I’m not getting what I need from my own business, how can I possibly help them with theirs?
I love that idea Sandi – but I am finding that many of my biz owners are more available between 1-5 on Friday afternoon.
Maybe I will just start sleeping in on Monday mornings instead!
Excellent point about helping their business.
I’ve always been a fan of “if you want something done, give it to the busy person”
thanks for commenting
Ha! I don’t take many days off anyway — the less you work, the less you make when you’re a freelancer. Not that I “work myself to the bone” — I do need to recharge now and then. I guess I just like what I’m doing. I did skip the office on Canada Day though this year.
However the one day I always take off is my birthday. That’s my National Holiday (I guess, as you point out, International Holiday). I can count on one hand the number of days I have worked on my birthday….
~Graham
you’re quite right, Graham – but balance needs to be there to do the best for the customer while being there for your family.
Part of the new biz that I search for is in recurring income streams – so with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, maybe every weekend will be a long one!
or – maybe the only day of the year that I will work will be my birthday!
I love what i’m doing – and hoping to do it for a long time.
In my part of Canada we tend to speak mid-Atlantic, I can write color when hand-coding HTML/CSS but I have visions/nightmares of various grade school teachers if I was to skip the ‘U” anywhere else.
Affluent/effluent – I’ll assume that was humour?
As for stat holidays, most of my clients are Canadian so no big deal, I observe the Canadian stat holidays.(keeps the family happy too) When working for US clients I count the US holidays as quiet ‘bonus’ days. No US client demands but extra time to get things done
Good piece of advice.
There is an interesting strategy to keep a guilt-free work schedule: the un-schedule. Meaning, planning the leisure time first, so you can have a more realistic grasp of your actual available time for work.
This keeps you away from procrastinating, because you know the reward coming down the tunnel of a work slot when you’ve defined it from the beginning.
Sounds good Chris,
I think i saw it demonstrated another way – something about a mason jar filled with big rocks, little rocks, sand, and water
the big rocks are your high priority items (family, friends, leisure items) – and everything else needs to be built around them.
anything that might keep me from procrastinating – I’m a master!
thanks for commenting
J
I don’t really have a lot of long weekends unless we plan on flying back to the province (yes, we also use this term) to visit either the in-laws or my parents’ place. Instead, I always make sure to give weekends and all major holidays off for myself and my family. It really helps as the rest gases me up for another round of freelance work.
In order to finish everything before the weekends, I put on my hubby’s gigantic headset, turn up the classical music, and steer clear away from my favorite social networking sites. If I feel like collapsing due to sleepiness, I would walk up and down the stairs for a bit or wash my face.
This summer, I’ve arbitrarily booked a few long weekends. I just book off in my agenda a Friday and a Monday to make a four day weekend every four weeks or so — and it’s been great! This is a first for me and clients seem more than happy to call/email when I’m in the office.
The bonus has been that I have a hard deadline every few weeks where all projects need to be up-to-date before I “go”. I can’t afford to procrastinate for very long.
I make sure to add the closures to my email signature a few weeks in advance so no one’s surprised…I’m definitely using this model next summer too.
This is what I am dealing with now, I was going to go camping in Colorado but at the last minute a client needs some work done…. maybe next week.
It’s imperative as a freelancer that you schedule time for yourself, in whatever manner you can or you need. I don’t do the mon/fri off bit bc I know how tough it is to catch up afterwards…it’s almost not worth it. But, I do schedule my workouts a month in advance (bootcamps 3x a week at noon)…I mark it on my calendar like it’s a client meeting and I don’t miss it. That way, I know I’m getting away from my desk, staying healthy, and putting myself first. It always recharges me too.
Not to say I’ve never taken off a Friday just for myself
all last week i was in northern Minnesota on a Golf/Fishing trip with my family and only checked my email twice… i never take vacation (for more then a weekend) and i have to tell you that i came back this week refreshed and super motivated. i think that everyone needs to force vacations on themselves haha! great article!
In my part of Canada we tend to speak mid-Atlantic, I can write color when hand-coding HTML/CSS but I have visions/nightmares of various grade school teachers if I was to skip the ‘U” anywhere else.
Yes! I avoided the BC day weekend and took the opportunity to get work done without distraction from people calling me! hahaha
I try to take at least one long weekend every month as well.