Wrapping Up The Year

Posted by John on December 17th, 2010

London in the snowFor those of us who are our own boss and work from home, it's easy to blur the line between work-time and down-time. This is particularly the case when our work feels more like play!

About this time of year a few years back I had a realisation. I hadn't set a clear date to finish my work for the year. So I decided on a day to be my "last day in the office" (even though my office is in my home).

I really enjoyed the focus to finish everything up. I ended up working late to meet my deadline but felt much better for being able to switch off and leave my business behind for a couple of weeks.

Have you set your last day in the office yet? If not, take a look at your diary and decide when you are officially 'off work'. Block the time out. Try to give yourself a good break during which you are free not to think about your work at all - you'll come back so much fresher with new perspectives and new ideas.

(If you're still in a job and longing for the freedom to set your own schedule, take a look at our Screw Work Let's Play Programme.)

Whatever you're doing over this holiday season, I hope you have a great time.

Merry Christmas,

John

PS. If you know someone who is sick of their current work, there's just about time to order them a copy of Screw Work Let's Play from Amazon UK to arrive for Christmas (and it's currently almost half price at £5.71!)

Posted in How to be happy, How to guarantee your success (Secret 4), How to play full-time (Secret 9), Time management for creative people
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  • Wednesday 23rd December is my last day. I am finishing at 4pm and then not working officially until the kids go back to school Tuesday 4th Jan 2011.

    I am feeling a little decadent taking so much time off but I need to clean up and prepare for family coming Christmas Day, hence the mid-week finish. Plus, hubby is an entertainer and it's his busiest time so I need to 'hold the fort' so to speak.

    My concern is that, as a freelancer, people seem to think I am available most all the time (despite clear working hours set out on my website) so how do I ensure that they realise I can have time off through the hols too?

  • Sounds great Sharon! Be firm about your time off but perhaps you could put in place a VA to check your mail/phone messages or set a schedule to check your email a couple of times during the break and set up an autoresponder to say so.