How to juggle freelance work with holidays

We've all been there - promising ourselves that long-overdue day off, making plans with friends, scheduling a big spring clean and who knows what else - only to get a call at the last minute, asking "can you come in to work?".

It's one of the big risks of being a freelancer - not helped by the fact that for many, "turn down work at your peril" is a key mantra. After all, there's always the fear that if you say no, they won't ask again. Even if that's really not likely to be the case, that niggling nugget of self-doubt is always in the back of your mind.

As a result, your friends get the cancellation phone call, your house remains the embodiment of a pig sty and the long-overdue day off remains just that. Until next time, maybe?

The truth is, just as freelancing itself requires discipline in the sense you have to be motivated to chase the work, taking time off from your job once you're established possibly requires even more self-control.

However, taking a break is significantly important and should be seen as a necessity from time to time to ensure you remain fresh - and don't let the standards you have built your reputation around slip. Similarly, over-working yourself can eventually lead you to resent the profession you're in for never giving you a break - when in fact the only one guilty of that is yourself.

With this in mind, you need to make sure that you occasionally ease up and give yourself a holiday - no matter how hard that may seem. So how can you achieve this without getting massive pangs of guilt?

Set yourself strict criteria of when to say yes or no

We're not suggesting that once you've set a week in mind that you'd like to take a break that you rigidly stick to it no matter what. After all, if the job of a lifetime pops up and they want you to take it on, then you shouldn't turn it down, just because that's the week you're supposed to be off.

Instead, give yourself a mental tick list to help you decide whether or not the work is worth compromising on your holidays for.

For example, this could be how much money you are offered per day or how long the work is for. If you are contacted to take part in a six-month project, you have to ask yourself if it is in your best interest to turn it down for the sake of having one week off. 

One of the best things about freelancing is the flexibility and it would be criminal not to use that aspect of your lifestyle to your advantage.

Everyone deserves a break

If you're constantly busy, it's easy to fall into the trap of accepting work again and again to the point where you eventually find yourself not being able to remember when the last time you had a day off was .

To avoid this, you should keep a record on your calendar or in your diary of when your last holiday was - and when in the future you are likely to need another break.

This allows you to be mindful of when you are approaching a period when you have gone too long without a holiday and also makes it easier for you to turn work down for this reason.

Respect the time you're not working

Sometimes, when you haven't been booked to work, you may feel as though your time should still be spent chasing other jobs or completing administrative tasks.

However, some of these days can easily be spent as an impromptu holiday. By respecting the time when you are not working, by getting in some much-needed rest and recuperation instead, you can boost your energy levels and enjoy yourself without having to pre-schedule something that could eventually be compromised further down the line.

Ultimately, you're your own boss and it's nice to make the most of that fact. After all, not everyone is in the same boat!