We’re in Spring Break season now and before you know it we’ll blink and it’ll be Memorial Day Weekend and time for SUMMER!
I don’t know about you but I love summer time. The pool. The sunshine. The slower mornings. The fresh watermelons. The extended daylight. It’s definitely my happy season - minus the insane sweat and leg chafing.
There are LOTS of opinions online about vacation and time off as a freelancer and business owner. There’s a corner of the internet that says don’t ever take a day off until you’re a multimillionaire and hustle until you’re successful. Not my favorite. There’s another corner of the internet that believes in YOLO and unlimited time off. As a business owner the company time off policy is up to you! Which is both awesome and can be a little overwhelming. No one from HR is coming to say, Maggie, you haven’t taken any time off this year yet, when would your like your vacation? If you’re new to owning your own business there can also be this weird guilt that comes with taking time off. If you’re feeling anxious or nervous about vacay - do some mindset work around this.
Here’s my personal opinion on all things time off and vacay…TAKE THE TIME OFF YOU WANT AND NEED.
So how do you make that happen WITHOUT sacrificing income or the client service you pride yourself on?
Two words…PLANNING & COMMUNICATION.
If you haven’t already PLAN out your time off for the rest of the year. Put the dates on the calendar, make yourself out of office, if you have to edit it later, you can. But chances are if you don’t write it down now, it won’t happen. If that sounds overwhelming start by planning your time off for Q2 and Q3. Again, put it on the calendar, make yourself unavailable, get the dates out of your head and onto the paper.
Once you’ve DECIDED. It’s time to take action and communicate those dates to your clients. You literally can not over communicate time off with a client. I like to do it early and often. At the beginning of the year I plan out my time off for the year and send my clients an email with that information. I also ask them for THEIR time off (and other important dates like launches) for the year so I can plan accordingly. Then the month before I send a reminder and a calendar invite - Maggie Day Off so I KNOW it’s on their calendar (and radar). The month of the time off I make sure we’re both on the same page so that work can be delegated as needed, deadlines can still be met and the client feels supported and cared for - EVEN in my absence. It really is THAT easy.
You SHOULD take time off. You DESERVE to rest. You are WORTHY of vacation.
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