The Interrupted Work Schedule

What’s on the iPod: Falling by Desmond Myers

How was your weekend? Did you get to celebrate the real reason for the day off? My weekend was to be a good one, except for one little thing — a flare up of an ongoing issue. I was in pain much of the weekend, and I can’t say any of it was related to my surgery. In fact, that portion is clearing up nicely and I’m right on track.

So after the amoxicillin alone didn’t work, a call to the doctor and a trip to two pharmacies later (try finding one open on Memorial Day), I have augmentin and a good shot at feeling better today. About time. I’m tired of hurting.

Maybe it’s a good thing today is the first work day of the week. I have a project due Friday that I now feel much more able to tackle. Last week, despite starting it and feeling bored, I just wasn’t focused. It was weird — a huge fog hung over me. The visiting nurses have told me to expect at least three days of convalescing for every day I was in the hospital. That puts me into mid-June. Great. No hurrying it without feeling the consequences, either. So I’ll behave.

I was having a conversation with my husband about upcoming vacation season. He wants to take a week and head out right after his daughter’s wedding next month. I’d love that. However, I’ve just had an entire month of not earning (except for this one project and a possible retainer). I can’t just go like that. And that, friends, is the irony of being freelance.

I was lucky — I had a nice cushion in the bank (on purpose). Had I not, this month would have been a disaster. But I can’t walk away from any more work. I have to tackle it and get that account back up to its sweet spot.

Life gets in the way. Every one of us has to plan for long-term absences from work, be they weeks or months. How do you deal with an interrupted work schedule? Here are a few things that help:

Bulk up the bank account. Now. Don’t wait until you learn you have to go in for surgery or until someone close to you suffers illness or death. It’s hard to talk about, but unexpected stuff happens. Start saving. Pretend like today is the beginning of your long-term savings. Imagine that you need at least three months of savings. What does that look like? Start socking it away now.

Work remotely. If we go where he wants to, I won’t have access to free WiFi. We’ll be in Canada, where the prices go up automatically on cell phones and wireless Internet access. However, when we were in Phoenix, I was able to work while visiting. I didn’t finish projects, but I got many lined up and handled much of the correspondence from the conference the few days before. There could be a chance for you to work a few hours a day on must-do projects — maybe a few hours in the morning right after breakfast? You and your significant other could plan to head out around noon once you get some work done.

Have projects waiting. I was fortunate that a few new clients wanted to work with me, but were willing to wait. In one case, the client was happy for the few weeks to get things organized on her side. I was also able to answer emails via cell phone while I was still in the hospital. That helped keep me in front of them and get a much-needed extension on projects.

Refer. Two projects were referred to my backups right away. In one case, because I’d done him a favor a while ago, my one writer friend insisted he finish the project and give me the cash (he would have received the bulk because hey, that’s the fair thing to do). In fact, both writers would get the bulk and I’d get a small referral fee. That keeps money coming my way and rewards them for helping me out. Build your referral network now. Know who’s going to get which type of project, and agree now on a referral percentage. It saves a lot of scrambling later.

Do the small stuff where you can. I may not have been able to tackle a 4,500-word article, but I took on a smaller project that requires more thinking than writing (at this point, anyway). It’s one I’m confident I can deliver on time and with the right focus. If you have smaller projects you can knock out in a day (but you have a week to do it), why not? You can split the work up into a few hours a day.

Take the big one with long deadlines. Last week I signed on to do a large project with an open deadline. That works because I can start pecking away at it as I start to feel better (like this week after this other project is completed). Make sure your client understands your current limitations and is willing to allow you to deliver later rather than sooner.


Have you ever had an interrupted work schedule? How long? How did you handle it? Were you ready for it, or did it take you by surprise?