Even if you only take a day off so you can enjoy a long weekend once in a while, downtime is so important in finding balance. I really shouldn't talk because I'm in one of my workaholic stints right now, but when I need the time, I'll take it (cancelled project plans today to take a "rest & recharge" day actually).

Clients are generally very understanding. And you're dead on — you don't have to respond to them when you're off or away. I made that mistake early on and used to spend half of my vacation time working. Don't promise you'll do all of your normal work ahead of time either. That's not really taking time off… it's cramming the same hours into a smaller block of time. And you'll burn out. And that vacation might not be enough to really recharge your batteries (another mistake I've made.

Lori, thanks for hosting me! It's always great to contribute to Writers Worth Month. I wish I could say that there were just a few short years getting here–it's been quite a journey. The biggest gap was from marriage to kid, 9 years! But in that time, I learned to write better from colleagues at full-time jobs. I felt very prepared to write as a freelancer. The thing I was most scared of was being responsible for finding my own work. But turns out, if you just sit down and market yourself with patience and persistence, it tends to work itself out.

Sharon, we can definitely neglect focusing on our personal projects when we don't "go home" after work. When we're just walking to the next room, it's harder. Thankfully, when my little girl pulls me away from the computer, it's easier for me to quit for the day! She's my personal project right now 😉

KeriLynn, I totally understand that feeling of putting pressure on yourself! I haven't done that with productivity in freelancing as much (I don't track phone calls with potential clients, for example, and I'm not tracking commenting on this blog), but I was trying to lose weight a few years ago and tracked every single thing I ate and how many calories it was. I was SO miserable. Finally I just started making good choices and turned out, I eventually lost the weight without the misery.

Yo, good point! I'm guilty of leaving my email up all day, even when I'm writing. I don't have too much of a problem getting back to writing, but I think I'd be more focused if I didn't stop every time an email popped up.

Devon, I'm like you — if I need to put in extra time to meet a deadline, I have no problem doing that. I just don't like to put myself in that situation if I can help it, especially if it's my own fault for wasting working hours playing on social media. I am very careful to stay away from Facebook and other sites while I'm working, or I'll be checking my notifications every time something comes up. In fact, I try to stay away from Facebook more in general these days. It just makes me angry 😉 How do you tell clients that you charge for calls? Do they agree, or always choose email instead?

Paula, that's a great way to frame the fact that you prefer not to have calls, because you want everything in writing. If you end up charging for calls, let me know how to go about telling the client that.

Lori, that's a great point that we can work from anywhere, so let's take advantage of it. I've done that before, too, so I'm all for it as long as I don't forget to relax too!

Taking time — it's so important. You can't be your best if you're burning it from both ends. You don't necessarily have to mention a vacation, but do let the clients know you're traveling or unavailable. I just took on a large project knowing I'd be on vacation, but it's now a working vacation, and I'm okay with that. The work will be limited to about 4 to 5 hours, I suspect. I have a conference call with them during my time off — again, not a problem. We brag so much about being able to work from anywhere, but we don't really. Time to make that statement a reality. 🙂

I don't know who said it recently, but someone said when agreeing to phone calls, say something like "I have 15 minutes on this date" just to put mental parameters around your time. I loved it so much I started doing it. It really does help, particularly with those who like to have meetings to follow up on meetings. This forces a bit more action and a lot less BS.

One of my goals for the year was to not work late every day and weekend. Only when absolutely necessary. Most weekends when I have something on my to-do list, I find myself saying, "It can wait for Monday."

And Devon, I have two new clients who always wants to call. I try to get them to communicate by email, where everything is in writing, but if the requests for calls continues I'll have to tell them I'll need to bill them for my time.

Sharon, we can definitely neglect focusing on our personal projects when we don't "go home" after work. When we're just walking to the next room, it's harder. Thankfully, when my little girl pulls me away from the computer, it's easier for me to quit for the day! She's my personal project right now 😉

KeriLynn, I totally understand that feeling of putting pressure on yourself! I haven't done that with productivity in freelancing as much (I don't track phone calls with potential clients, for example, and I'm not tracking commenting on this blog), but I was trying to lose weight a few years ago and tracked every single thing I ate and how many calories it was. I was SO miserable. Finally I just started making good choices and turned out, I eventually lost the weight without the misery.

Yo, good point! I'm guilty of leaving my email up all day, even when I'm writing. I don't have too much of a problem getting back to writing, but I think I'd be more focused if I didn't stop every time an email popped up.

Devon, I'm like you — if I need to put in extra time to meet a deadline, I have no problem doing that. I just don't like to put myself in that situation if I can help it, especially if it's my own fault for wasting working hours playing on social media. I am very careful to stay away from Facebook and other sites while I'm working, or I'll be checking my notifications every time something comes up. In fact, I try to stay away from Facebook more in general these days. It just makes me angry 😉 How do you tell clients that you charge for calls? Do they agree, or always choose email instead?

I charge for phone calls, and that's helped a lot. 99.9% of the phone calls are the other party wanting to hear the sound of his own voice and could be far more efficiently done via email. If you're going to waste my time on the phone, you're going to pay for it.

I also have at least one day a week when I'm completely "disconnected", and that's been a big help. Life is meant to be lived in the moment, not through electronics.