In the UK, most employees get 25  days a year holiday entitlement. As freelancers, we can take as many weeks off as we like. But the reality is, we don’t. However, it’s important to recharge your batteries and take time out. That’s why one of my Top Ten Tips For Freelancers is to go on holiday.

I tend to take a week off in June and September, have the odd long weekend and then take Christmas/New Year off. It’s not anywhere near the 25 days that my employee friends get but, as I’m not on a retainer with any of my clients, I don’t earn anything while I’m away.

I say ‘no’ to laptops on holiday

I know some freelancers who take their laptop on holiday with them and continue to work/respond to clients’ emails while they are away. I don’ t do that. My goal is to have a complete break  and come back rested and revitalised.  I make sure I tell all my clients well in advance that I’m taking some time off, so I either get any urgent stuff written before I go away or it’s there waiting for me when I return.

My previous post was how easy it is for freelancers working from home to procrastinate. But it’s also very easy to get distracted.

This was me yesterday: I read an email from a friend in the US with a link to a hilarious video on YouTube. One video led to another and, before I knew it, 20 mins had gone by.

I then received a LinkedIn invitation from someone I used to work with, so I spent another 10 mins or so perusing their profile and clicking on some of their contacts. While I was on LinkedIn, I thought I may as well update the bit where I say what I’m working on.

Two  minutes later, the front doorbell rang and it was the postman delivering a book I’d ordered from Amazon. And, of course, I couldn’t resist taking a sneak peak at it. And I haven’t even mentioned Facebook or Twitter or online forums….

If you’re faced with a difficult assignment or a job you really don’t want to do (like a tricky phone call), then it’s almost inevitable that you’re going to fall victim to the dreaded procrastination.

Here are just some of the displacement activities you might end up doing. (I know, because I’m done them all at some point…)

• Fill the washing machine
• Do some filing
• Clean the cat’s litter tray
• Tidy a cupboard
• Phone a friend for a chat
• Go for a walk
• Sort out your expenses
• Make a shopping list
• Hunt for a DVD that’s gone missing

And so on.

You’ve now got a tidy house and you’ve completed some useful chores but you haven’t got any nearer to tackling the problem in hand. In fact, you feel worse because half the day has gone by and you’ve still got that feeling of dread hanging over you.

Yesterday I went through all the positives of being freelance. Today’s post lists some of drawbacks:

• You don’t get paid when you go on holiday (unless you are on a retainer).

• You don’t get sick pay.

• You won’t have a regular monthly pay cheque – but your bills will still come in every month.

• You’ll have ‘feast or famine’: either you’ll be working flat out or you’ll have no work at all. That’s just Sod’s Law.

• Some clients will be late payers, so you’ll have to chase them for money.

• If you want to keep your skills up to date, you’ll have to pay for your own training from now on.

• It’s now all down to you: you are the MD, sales manager, coffee maker, stationery buyer etc etc.
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If you’ve not yet decided whether freelancing is for you, here are ten advantages of going it alone:

• You won’t have a boss breathing down your neck. You ARE the boss.

• You set your own timetable. If you want to start at 11am, you can. If you want to take time out in the day and work at night, you can.

• You can take your laptop and work wherever you want to. No more being chained to a desk.

• When you find you have a free day, you can go out and enjoy yourself.

• You don’t have to put up with annoying work colleagues.

• When you’re busy and you need to put in extra hours, that extra money you earn goes into YOUR bank account not a big corporate’s.

• If you finish your day’s work at 4pm, you don’t have to stay at your desk until 5:30pm ‘looking busy’.
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As a freelancer, you don’t have the luxury of being paid when you take time off sick. Having the odd cold or bout of sickness isn’t going to make a big dent in your finances but being off work for several weeks certainly will.

Hopefully you won’t be unlucky enough to have a bad accident or serious illness but these things can happen. I know freelancers who have broken an arm, undergone major surgery, or have had to take extended time off to care for an elderly relative. And no work means no income.

Since you don’t get sick pay from an employer or Sickness Benefit from the State as a freelancer, you will need to build up what I call a ‘buffer zone’. Put aside a regular amount each month that you can draw upon if you’re ill and unable to earn money.

The buffer zone is also there to draw upon if you experience a lean time and you can’t make ends meet. And it’s there if you suddenly find yourself the sole earner in your household because your partner has lost his or her job. J563XNU884J4