So, I'm still working...

[tlsanders]

Every holiday season, I make big plans to take a chunk of time off, and every holiday season I get flooded with requests. I've been turning them down or pushing them to January right and left, but here I am five days past my planned cut off and I am still writing...three pages and seven posts to go, and then another eight pages next week.

I've got seven houseguests coming between Christmas and New Years, so I really wanted that time off.

Anyone actually getting downtime for the holidays?

[boshoffirene]

Nope. I am in the same boat, with a private client sending me some urgent work that I can ONLY get to next week!!! 

I think it is the inherent *I know what the feast time feels like in this job, as well as the famine...don't want the famine....* mindset that kicks in!

(Of course, a bonus at the end of it also tends to make you think twice before saying NO!)

[reinierb]

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@Irene B wrote:

Nope. I am in the same boat, with a private client sending me some urgent work that I can ONLY get to next week!!! 

I think it is the inherent *I know what the feast time feels like in this job, as well as the famine...don't want the famine....* mindset that kicks in!

(Of course, a bonus at the end of it also tends to make you think twice before saying NO!)

I'm in this boat as well, and I'll count myself extremely lucky if I can manage to take at least Xmas Day off. New Year's Day is still up in the air, but as things stand now, it seems unlikely that I'll be able to take that day off. As Irene says, hunger and famine is a great motivator...

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[m_terrazas]

I've been lucky
A client who is a charm (seems to be long-lasting), has accepted without problems that I take a few days for Christmas and New Year's Eve.
And another, he prefers to start after the holidays because these are "complicated", due to trips and others.

Also my laptop is sick and I can not take it, even if I wanted to.
So, a few days off!

[versailles]

Same here. No vacation time for the braves... 😞

[petra_r]

Me neither........ absolutely snowed under. No time off at all except maybe for an afternoon next week. I am on (paid) vacation with my main contract next week but have a huge translation with a tight deadline. No rest for the wicked......

[kfarnell]

I've been saying 'no' in an increasingly tetchy tone for the last ten days. Have just finished (as in the last few minutes) my must do's before Xmas.  Officially, I'm not working again till 3 January , but I have my own book demanding attention so it'll hardly be a restful couple of weeks...

[mthornton-cpc]

I'm on vacation... and working. Fewer hours, but working. It's pretty typical. That feast or famine thing really keeps us slogging away and bringing in those earnings. I'm glad I can kick back a bit and spend much less time this week and next than normal. But it's still not like taking true time off. 

[gilbert-phyllis]

Officially closed today through Jan. 1. I actually had a Q4 crunch this year, for the first time in several years, and it exhausted me. Fortunately, things have wound down for the rest of the month. No more deadlines this year but quite a bit of regrouping and prep work for new projects that will launch in January with repeat UW clients; and some meetings (hopefully to discuss Q1 launches) with non-UW clients. Heading out for two weeks visiting friends & family in various places, packing work with me. During the six days I'm with family, I will be glad of the obligation to go hide out and work for a few hours, from time to time.

I want to take this opportunity to say how much I value the community here on the forum. In addition to useful practical advice and priceless insights from smart, thoughtful professionals, I consistently find entertainment and a degree of camaraderie that is not easy to come by for freelancers.

Wishing everybody happy, healthy holidays and a prosperous and peaceful new year!

[datasciencewonk]

Nope. 

My planned time off is no longer in play. 

Working throughout the holiday. 

[bobafett999]

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@Tiffany S wrote:

Anyone actually getting downtime for the holidays?

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 I have perpetual downtime.

( and loving it)

[zoomconcepts]

I thought I'd get a longer time off this year (really need it!) but one of my big off platform contracts needs some stuff in the first week of January 😕 Plans for 20 days break - out of the window. Also got a new client here, right before the holidays so I'm going to use that week to move their stuff forward too, if I'm gonna be working anyway. Wrapping up on Friday and not touching anything between the holidays though, so I hope I'll get at least a week of time off. 

[luce-neidert]

I had planned not to work for a few days but one of my sweetests young clients, who doesn't live in a country where Christmas is a big deal is counting on me.

I was too stupid to refuse, and here I am, trying to juggle work and life.

[e_luneborg]

Nope. No days off for me this year.

I'm a bit behind my original schedule because of some travelling and some family issues, so now I have to write another 100,000 words this month. Not sure that will work out...

But gifts are ordered online and my boyfriend is doing the cooking so I should have time to get some more work done. (It's not like I ever cook anything anyway, so him doing that part is nothing new.)

[jutta_beinker]

ME. I am NOT working over the holidays.Don't care how urgent it is. My profile will be set to invisible and my calendar will show not available.

There are more things to life than work.Horses for instance..foals need to be trained, dogs brought to the forests  and long rides on the beach need to be had.There is food. And family. And drink. Most of all, drink. No. Holidays are a must.

[purplepony]

IMO it's a matter of priorities; sometimes we need to assure that WE are the priority.  Sound simple?  It can be.

[tlsanders]

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@Pat M wrote:

IMO it's a matter of priorities; sometimes we need to assure that WE are the priority.  Sound simple?  It can be.

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That's the main benefit to freelancing, isn't it? Full days off in the middle of the week if there's something you'd rather do, the option of working in the evenings rather than during business hours if the sun is shining on the lake, etc. 

I started freelancing to be available for other people, but then all of my other obligations fell away and I kept it up because I'd grown accustomed to taking long walks with the dogs several times a day, meeting friends for two hour lunches, etc. 

[purplepony]

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@Jutta B wrote:

ME. I am NOT working over the holidays.Don't care how urgent it is. My profile will be set to invisible and my calendar will show not available.

There are more things to life than work.Horses for instance..foals need to be trained, dogs brought to the forests  and long rides on the beach need to be had.There is food. And family. And drink. Most of all, drink. No. Holidays are a must.

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 Jutta, absolutely gorgeous photo!  Is that you with one of your "fur babies?"  Enjoy!

[colettelewis]

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@Jutta B wrote:

ME. I am NOT working over the holidays.Don't care how urgent it is. My profile will be set to invisible and my calendar will show not available.

There are more things to life than work.Horses for instance..foals need to be trained, dogs brought to the forests  and long rides on the beach need to be had.There is food. And family. And drink. Most of all, drink. No. Holidays are a must.

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Quite right. I'm not either. I haven't set my account to invisible, because I am anyway - except for those who think I am at entry level. But for the people I do work for, they know that it all starts again 4 January 2018.

[cdstallcup]

Jutta B, thanks for the reminder to turn my visibility off - that should help

I think some of my clients wanted to get their jobs lined out so they could relax over the holiday without feeling they had unfinished business. Even the most mellow ones are writing "Are you ready for the next milestone?" I am saying I'm taking time, but sure, send it, I might find myself at the computer - I'm imagining making a bit pot of chai latte over the holidays, and that can really motivate me to get to the work, even when I hadn't planned to. But  - I am determined to take some time to just chill. And veg.

[mwiggenhorn]

Oh well, I set myself as unavailable a few days ago but I keep getting invitations and notes from the Talent Specialists as well as from individual clients.

[dalahast]

I set myself to unavailable until after Christmas. Some invitations are still trickling in, but I'm responding to them all with a pre-written "thanks, but I'm taking some time off until after Christmas" message. I accepted and finished a couple of small tasks from existing clients, but that's all.

[purplepony]

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@Mary W wrote:

Oh well, I set myself as unavailable a few days ago but I keep getting invitations and notes from the Talent Specialists as well as from individual clients.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Mary, the same with me.  As I'm sure you know, supposedly we shouldn't continue to receive Invitations after we've noted ourselves as unavailable unless a potential/past Client has saved our Profiles.  However, I continue to receive them and have contacted CS regarding.  For whatever it's worth I've been informed that it's a technical glitch of some sort, and they're not sure when it will be resolved.  If we're Invited and don't respond when we're marked as unavailable, it's not supposed to negatively impact our responsiveness rating.  I guess time will tell with that. 

[luce-neidert]

Not working any more! I finished the job (took me a week to do a little translation job) and now I can relax and enjoy this special time of the year.