As we all know, everyone needs a break sometime, and those of us in the legitimate work from home jobs world are no different from those who have brick and mortar occupations. Sometimes you have to ease up or take a complete "vacation" to keep from going off the deep end. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you get close to the breaking point:
1. Keep doing your easy and quick tasks if possible. Unless you need a complete and total vacation from your work at home obligations, try to keep your simplest and quickest tasks going while easing up on the more stressful projects. While a 100% work free week might completely refresh you, it also might put you in a situation where you find it hard to get started back up again when the work comes rolling in, especially if you haven't been working from home very long and enjoyed a long period of unemployment before that.
Right now, I've decided to step back from one of my clients for a while so I can relax a little and take care of some things that I've been putting off. While I may take a hit to my income, I'm still doing my smaller and simpler projects so that I won't lose all my momentum and earnings all at once.
2. Shoot for a 5 day work week. Once you have a few eggs in your basket, or clients on your roster, start whittling things down that require a lot of attention and try to turn them into something that can be done 4-5 days out of the week.
When I got started I was working a few hours a day, everyday, but recently I have tried to decrease my weekend work load so that I have a little refresh time every week. I still do some work on the weekends, but it's far less than what it was and it's generally work that could be done during the week if I didn't procrastinate (or if my clients sent it earlier in the week). I also now only present myself as a 5 day a week worker, with optional weekend availability for emergency situations unless the client is especially high paying, then I offer 7 day a week flexibility.
3. Know when to stop looking. In the world of freelancing and working from home, it's almost mandatory that you be constantly on the prowl for new opportunities. Unfortunately, that can be both beneficial and detrimental all at the same time so you have to know when to step back and take a breath from bidding and applying.
This is definitely the hardest thing for me to do because I constantly worry about losing clients or having clients flake out at inopportune times (as I'm currently experiencing). It also doesn't help that when it comes to seeking out new work my experiences so far have been of the "sink or swim" variety... Meaning that I am constantly seeking new clients and they seem to come in waves. I'll go a few weeks with absolutely no luck, and then suddenly I'll have offers for 5 new projects on the table. Obviously you can see how that could be both good and bad depending on time commitments, the amount of effort involved etc. While it is hard, I do have to turn some down in those situations so I don't burn myself out, but I always make it clear that I will contact them when I have the necessary availability again.
While it's not possible to completely avoid the need for a vacation every once in a while to regenerate your motivation and replenish your sanity, you can decrease how frequently you need them. If you recognize your limits, keep a few days light or clear of work during the week and always keep your simplest tasks on the table you can stay motivated and continue to run strong without pushing yourself over the edge with your legitimate work from home jobs.
2 comments:
I hear you on the waves of work! I had no clients for a long time, and bid on a few jobs, and boom, got accepted for 2 within 24 hours!
I think that's just how it goes for pretty much everyone, or at least everyone I've talked to ;)
Congrats on those two new projects though!
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