The main reason some of us became freelancers – which I’ve been full-time, again, since 2006 – is to enjoy the freedom to run our own schedule. But many writers are reluctant to make sure that vacation time, even occasional hooky days, is scheduled into their life as well.
For some, it’s the financial pressure of raising a family or the fear you’ll miss a lucrative opportunity, or several, if you lift your nose from the grindstone. With all due respect to workaholics, I disagree. Without dedicated time off, preferably an unbroken, work-free stretch of two, even three weeks, or longer, we become weary automatons, cranking it out and burning out in the process.
I try to take a minimum of four to six weeks off every year, usually two to three weeks at a time. This year, so far, I piggybacked a two-week vacation in May onto my husband’s workshop for his employer in Tucson. I taught a class there on freelancing, then played for the rest of the time: lounging by the pool, shopping, hiking and, best of all, a five-hour drive north to camp by myself at the Grand Canyon for four days.
And I left my laptop in Tucson. I had worked like a dog before leaving home to make sure I’d have income arriving for finished work, and had off-loaded as much as possible to my assistant. I checked my email by phone once a day. When, three days into my Grand Canyon break, I got an email from Ladies’ Home Journal wanting to fact-check my story, I handed it off to my assistant and went for a hike.
Even if a true getaway vacation is impossible for you right now, take a hooky day! If, like me, you live in a suburb near a city with cultural attractions, go see a play or a concert or visit a museum. Take a long walk with your dog or your kids or grandchild. Take in a matinee movie or sit with a book and just read for pure pleasure.
When I was completing the manuscript for my last book, Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail in September 2010, I took a three-hour colored pencil drawing class every Friday morning. I had never “wasted” time during a workday like that and feared it would throw me off completely. Instead, happily recharged, I’d be home by noon and ready to work with renewed energy and focus – thanks to the break I’d given myself.