Freelance workers: Do you work during the holidays?

Happy Easter! Yes, yes, I know Easter will already be but a distant memory by the time you read this, but I still get to say it anyway, because I'm actually writing this on Good Friday, to be published next week.

No, there is no such thing as a public holiday for the freelance writer. Or there is, but in order to actually have a holiday, I have to be prepared to work twice as hard to prepare for it - to the extent that I sometimes wonder if the holiday itself is actually worth what I have to go through to get it.

In order to have some "proper" time off over the next three days, for instance, I'm having to do the work I'd normally do over the weekend today - Good Friday. And yes, I normally work on the weekends: not all weekend, to be fair, but for a couple of hours each day. I tell myself that this is a temporary situation, that I need to put up with while I build up my blogging business, but sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be able to just sit back and put my feet up without thinking, "Hmmm, I really could be doing some more work on the blogs..."

Am I alone in this? I have a sneaky feeling I'm not: most of the other self-employed people I know admit to working much longer hours than they ever did when they were employed by other people - and to finding it difficult to "switch off" for weekends and holidays.

What about you? Did you have some time off over the Easter break, or was it business as usual?

Comments

[Milly]

Absolutely agree - bank holidays are definitely a perk you lose when you go self-employed. But on the bright side, I found that one advantage of working for myself is that all the stuff I used to do in my evenings and weekends has now become the stuff I do 9-5. So weekends and evenings are now free! Free to be used up doing more of the same, of course. Damn.

[Marce]

Happy Belated Easter!
I worked on Sunday night but definitely reduced my hours on Friday and up until Sunday night. :) I think it is important to take a little break during the holidays. However, I have a hard time staying away from the computer completely. Reduced hours works well though!

[Michele]

Firstly...congrats on the blog. I've been reading it for a while.Its been super useful and I love your writing style. This Easter I made a point of actually having a holiday for once. Usually I work right through bank holidays but not this time. I did have to work double time to prepare though. It was worth it :-)

[Amber]

Michele - I'm a huge fan of your blog, too: great to hear from you!

Milly - a good point, especially about freeing up your time only to do more of the same: that definitely sounds like me!

Marce - I find avoid the computer altogether to be so difficult that I just can't do it!