The holidays are approaching, and then after that, we have a few lovely months of Canadian winter to look forward to. In other words, the prime season for taking some time off is coming up fast!

You might think that because you’re a freelancer, you can’t really take a vacation. Even the thought of it makes you freak out! But guess what? You can! Maybe even especially because you’re a freelancer.

It can be tempting to pour all your spare time into building your business and juggling projects, but the thing you need to remember is that at the heart of your business is you. And, as your business’s greatest asset, you should make sure you’re taking care of yourself.

Taking time away from your responsibilities is imperative for maintaining good mental health, and it helps lessen the risk of overworking yourself and burning out.

But how can you take time off in the best way? What can you do to help yourself transition into that “time off” mindset when you shut down your computer on your last day before your break? We have 5 handy tips to share that will help you do just that!

Spread the Word

Once you’ve selected your days off, make sure you communicate that to anyone who will need to know. If you have recurring clients, let them know about your upcoming vacation about a month or so out. If you’re scheduling projects in the near future, make sure you build your time away into those schedules.

If you’re wrapping up any projects shortly before you’re stepping away, it can also be a good idea to let those clients know that you’ll be unavailable between X and X date.

Lastly, if possible, you can set an “out of office” automatic reply on your email, so that any potential new clients reaching out during your time away will know that they can expect a response once you’re back at your desk.

Give Yourself a Cushion

In the same way you might build a couple of extra “just in case” days into a project schedule (you know, for those last-minute issues that always seem to pop up), it can be very helpful to do the same when prepping for your time off, especially if your time off requires travel.

Think of it this way: say your last day of work is a Friday, and then the next day you’re heading to the airport to travel home to see family for the holidays for a week. You spend Friday quickly wrapping up loose ends and delivering that last outstanding project, and then finally log off for the day. But it’s been such a crazy week that you didn’t have time to pack. So, you get to packing, only to realize your two favourite pairs of jeans need to be washed. So, you throw in a load of laundry and press pause on packing until it’s done.

Then, you notice you’re almost out of your face wash and shampoo, so you have to run to the drugstore to pick those up so you don’t run out on your trip. Get back home, move the laundry to the dryer, then try to scrounge something quick for dinner…only to realize the fridge is full of leftovers, and it needs to be cleaned out before you leave (or else risk dealing with a much worse situation when you get back in a week).

So, you clean out the fridge, but now you have a mountain of dirty Tupperware to contend with, and a full garbage bag, but trash pickup will be while you’re away, so maybe you should take it to the dump, and—oh, is that the dryer buzzing?...

There will always be those tasks that pop up when you’re preparing to travel, and if you give yourself even just a day of breathing room, it means you won’t find yourself frantically stuffing things in a suitcase at 2 AM the day you’re supposed to head to the airport at 9 AM.

You’re much more likely to forget things when you’re stressed, so do yourself a favour if your time away requires travel: give yourself a day before your leave to act as a cushion for all those pesky things that you need to handle before you leave. Feel free to monitor your email or even devote some time to work tasks you might not have much time for usually, but don’t schedule any deadlines for that day.

This practice can hold equally true for your first day back at your desk following your time away. If you can, schedule yourself in for catching up on your inbox, returning missed calls, and lighter tasks that will help ease you back into your working mindset.

Plan for the Benefit of Future You

On your last day of work, take a few minutes and jot down some notes for when you return to work. Make some to-do lists, notes on projects that may be ongoing, and anything else that you think will help you out when you’re ready to get back to work.

Those notes can be very helpful because it means you can save time trying to reorient yourself with what you were doing before you stepped away, and what things you might have been in the middle of doing.

Set Boundaries

As I’ve mentioned, taking time off is important, so if you’re going to do it, make sure you do it right. Don’t be that person who is incapable of ever fully switching off. I encourage you to allow yourself to disengage, to fully unplug. No checking your email (if you must, just do it once a day), no “following up,” nothing.

I know, it’s scary. It can be really unnerving to let go of your control and let things be while you’re away. But it can also be really liberating too! In the end, you’re taking time away for a reason, whether that’s to spend the holidays with family near or far, jet off to a sandy beach somewhere in the dreariest part of February, or even do a staycation with your partner and kids.

Take that amazing focus you devote to your work every day and devote it instead to making the most of your time with friends, family, and loved ones while you’re away from your desk. You’ll return to work refreshed, relaxed, and thankful that you focused on having fun and enjoying yourself, instead of answering emails every 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

So, book that block of time off now! Then make sure you stay present and fully enjoy and appreciate it, whatever you end up doing! Remember, you don’t need to plan a big vacation just to enjoy some time off. Do a staycation, a stay-close-cation (to a neighbouring city, maybe), or just take a few days to do absolutely nothing at all.

Time off will refill your fuel tank and allow you to continue being your best work self, so open up your calendar and get going!