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How can a freelancer take a vacation?

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Betty in Client Management, Clients, Free Time!, Freelance Business, Mistakes, Working with Others 1 Comment
Summit of Pikes Peak

I’m on vacation. I arranged for other freelancers to help my clients while I am spending time with family. And today I spent about an hour working.

Mostly I was sending files to others so they could make changes for the clients. Some of the time was spent on the phone with the freelancers, helping one understand the task to be done, and helping another understand the new-to-her proofing system.

I didn’t really mind taking the time, but it was lucky I was available for calls. Yesterday I was in the clouds at 14,000 feet on top of Pikes Peak with a phone with a dead battery. Talk about being out of the office! Then again, my clients have all been notified of my vacation dates (with a day buffer on each end) and that:

I will be checking email periodically but may not have access every day. If you need me to send files to you or to another designer during this time, please plan on a 24-48 hour turnaround.

Lessons learned so far?

1. Clients need lots of reminders of my upcoming out of office time. Next time I will include a specific ‘call to action’: Put these dates on your calendar! And including the info in my email signature in the weeks leading up to vacation would probably help, too.

2. When training someone on a new system, don’t just show them. Have the person do all the tasks several times to be sure they really understand how to use the system.

3. Understand that the way clients communicate may not make sense to someone who hasn’t worked with them before. Encourage both clients and the people helping them to ask each other lots of questions to be sure that all tasks and projects are fully explained and understood.

How do you handle taking vacation time as a freelancer?

 

One comment on “How can a freelancer take a vacation?”

  1. Job at home says:
    July 29, 2015 at 1:05 pm

    I have to agree about number one. I had to send numerous reminders to clients simply because they forget to check their mail.

    Reply

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I'm Betty, and I created Freelance Q & A to share what I've learned as a successful freelance graphic designer.

I'm based in Boulder, CO and work with clients across the USA. You can visit my business site and see my portfolio at
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