Managing holidays & taking time off when you are self-employed

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When you’re self-employed, taking time off can seem quite daunting. The idea of spending time on yourself, or your family, can seem unrealistic when you’re juggling your own career and finances, as well as the needs of your clients.

A survey by IPSE (The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) discovered that the average freelancer only takes 24 days of holiday a year – that’s four days less than the standard holiday entitlement of an employee.

After research found that almost 1 in 20 people are now full time freelancers, its essential that those self-employed maintain a healthy work-life balance by taking time off regularly.

So, to help you prepare yourself to enjoy and make the most of some time off, we’ve put together some top tips, alongside advice from freelancers Natalie, Ellen and Michael.

Plan ahead

As annual holidays throughout the year usually follow the same date patterns, and it’s the most sensible idea to book abroad holidays ahead of time, you should have enough notice to schedule your work around time off. Freelancer Natalie Sharp, of Sharp Thinking Marketing, recommends you “decide at the start of the year when you are taking time off and build it into your schedule,” ensuring to “do this religiously at the beginning of January to stop diary clashes with projects and deadlines”.

Always be practical with how much work you need to do and how much time you’ll be able to take off, setting clear deadlines and priorities for yourself, and including provisions for the unexpected. Sharp says she makes sure to “schedule work to ensure meetings take place and projects are delivered before I go on leave,” so, if you haven’t already, this is an ideal time to take advantage of planning tools to keep you on track. Applications such as Todoist and Trello are ideal for managing your own tasks, and help to prioritise your most important and urgent work.

Communicate

It’s essential that you communicate with your clients about any scheduled time off. Discussing how she takes time off as a freelancer, Ellen Cole of Little Seed Group shares: “As a rule of thumb, I always try to give all my clients two months’ notice if I am going to be taking time away from the business.” At least two months’ prior is usually recommended for letting clients know, as Natalie also finds that it ensures they have ample notice. A survey by IPSE uncovered more than 70% of freelancers follow this advice when they’re planning to go on holiday.

Maintain relationships

The structures of relationships with clients are something that varies depending on your job role, but it’s always necessary that you keep them a priority whilst you’re on leave. It’s something recognised by many, especially if you’re in a similar industry to Ellen: “The Marketing, PR and Social Media industry is fast paced, meaning there are times where you have to work out of hours to further support your clients.” After building excellent working relationships, her clients now value her reliability, commitment and loyalty, and allow her to feel more at ease when she needs to take time off, whether it’s for personal or professional reasons.

To help keep her clients a priority, Ellen says she “always provides all my clients with an emergency phone number in case something comes up which needs my urgent attention,” which helps to keep her clients happy with a piece of mind that she is available if they need.

Utilise social media

With social media becoming an increasingly important part of a self-employed career, especially when you have social media clients, it is vital that you set up plans for your accounts prior to your time off.  Natalie emphasises how much of a commitment social media is, and how you don’t want to be worrying about activity whilst you’re trying to switch off from work. To address this, her piece of advice is to “plan your social media way in advance and use social media scheduling tools. This way you can keep things going and do all the upfront planning way before”. Tools like Hootsuite and SocialBee are ideal for scheduling your social media posts ahead of your holidays.

Be flexible

Sometimes, you aren’t able to shut off from work completely, which is where the benefits of flexible working come into play. If you’re able to, getting up early in the mornings and staying up later at night are the perfect opportunities to complete work, when necessary. Setting up a different kind of routine allows you to keep on top of your work, especially when you’re wanting to set time aside for enjoying the daytimes with family and friends. Or, you can work for short periods throughout the day, taking frequent breaks to make sure you relax and recharge. According to IPSE, taking more regular breaks from work should help reduce the high levels of stress which two in five freelancers currently experience.

Take advantage of the flexibility that self-employment offers and adjust your working hours to suit your needs and preferences.

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Set boundaries

Something that can come with difficulty to the self-employed is establishing a clear distinction between your work and personal life, and sticking to it. To help set boundaries, designate a specific area in your home as your workspace and avoid using it for anything else, or set a schedule for your work and leisure activities to avoid mixing them. Make sure to let your clients and family members know when you are available, and when you are not too.

Prepare your finances

Before you go on leave, you’ll need to take care of your finances. Natalie advises to never forget “to do your billing before you go on leave and pay any invoices ahead of taking any time off.” The survey from IPSE shows that 22% of freelancer still take care of their accounting and finances whilst on holiday, therefore, organising your finances in advance will leave you with more time to enjoy your holiday.

Freelancer Michael Rosen of Soundbite Communications says he also factors his time off into his pricing all year round. He shares that his “pricing structure takes into account the days I can't work because of holiday or sickness, as well of course as I need to account for pensions, medical insurance and all the other benefits that I no longer receive.”

Outsource

If you find yourself with too much work to manage before your upcoming time off, you can consider outsourcing your tasks, but only when necessary, Natalie advises. This helps you to save time, as well as limiting any worry during your time off. Sharp informed that she was able to take the whole of August off thanks to the help of a freelancer supporting her client’s campaign launches.

Doing this is also helpful in demonstrating that you’re working outside of IR35 by using your right to substitute. If a client refuses a substitute, it might be worth reviewing the clauses in your contract or seeking a contract review to make sure your contractual terms and working practices are not placing you inside IR35.

Secure your base

If you have your own work base, separate to your home, make sure you prepare the space for you to take time off. Whether you have your own IT equipment or a range of tools and machinery, ensure you lock up and secure these items. We recommend consulting with our qualified insurance professionals to explore our solutions, including owned plant insurance, tools insurance and property damage insurance.

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Enjoy yourself

Small business owners are at particular risk of burnout due to the intensity of running their own company - so it’s a necessity that this time is taken to relax, enjoy yourself, and have fun along the way. Make time for your friends and family, explore new hobbies, or share your interests and values with new people. Taking the time to relax, recharge and focus on your wellbeing is vital to your wellbeing and overall enjoyment.


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