Dedicating every Sunday evening to the same old routine of preparing for the dreaded Monday by cleaning, grooming or working on your to-do list makes it seem like the weekend is rapidly disappearing from under you. But then again, lazing around in your pj’s has the same effect.

Monday Prepping On Sunday Night

<ul><li>Seek out new settings, and new activities.</li><li>When you go and experience something novel, it seems to have lasted longer because you're more focused on collecting the unfamiliar information into a memory</li><li>The same thing holds when you consider a much smaller stretch of time - meaning that if you really want to stretch every hour to its fullest potential, you are going to have to make some plans.</li></ul>

The Trick To Make The Weekend Feel Longer

Time really does seem to fly when you’re busy – but in hindsight, you remember it as passing more slowly when you break out of  your routines.

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How to Make the Weekend Feel Longer

The tasks you tackle at the very end of the day may play an outsize role in helping you unplug.Psychologically detaching from work is one of the best ways to reduce after-hours stress and all its harms, including burnout. This means not only refraining from performing job-related tasks, but also mentally disconnecting from the job during non-work time.

The importance of how you end your day

Your brain struggles to let go of unfinished business. Incomplete tasks have a unique ability to continue capturing attention.This is usually useful but can be problematic in the context of work-related stress and burnout. Many of our jobs force us to juggle a variety of tasks that take days, weeks, or months to complete.And all of these loose ends have the potential to distract us during leisure time.

The problem with unfinished tasks

Taking a few minutes at the very end of the day to map out how you’ll tackle any ongoing tasks or commitments is a great way to facilitate detachment.
Making a plan for where, when, and how the task will be completed seems to reduce the urgency in our brains that naturally presses for completing goals. In this case, a plan is a reasonable substitute for actually completing the goal.

Thinking about ongoing tasks

Knocking out simple, completable tasks at the end of the workday — and avoiding complicated ones — is another good way to psychologically disconnect.If you finish the day by tackling something complex and unfinishable, this creates “oose ends that have the potential to continue distracting us during leisure time. You’re better off working on these earlier in the day, and reserving the easy stuff for your final hour or two of work.

Finish the small tasks

Don’t make checking your inbox the last thing you do each day.
This is the opposite of detachment. If there is nothing to attend to in your inbox, checking email is a small waste of time. If there is something urgent, a new task has now been activated in your mind, which will press for completion.

Don't check your email

Betty White, who died New Year’s Eve at the age of 99, liked to drink a vodka on the rocks every night before dinner. According to the Financial Times, White often credited both her longevity and her…

The Best Way to End Your Workday

A freelance business owner can find it difficult to unplug and unwind when on vacation. There always seem to be deadlines to meet, emails to answer, clients to manage and marketing to do. This is all driven by the fear that you'll lose work or clients if you slow down. Time off means a loss of money and day-to-day business admin piling up. However, taking time off is vital to avoid burnout.

Taking time off is essential

Build vacation into your schedule ahead of time. Then, block out the time you'll dedicate to vacation and plan around it when scheduling client work.

Plan ahead

If your time off will impact regular client schedules, notify your clients a few weeks in advance. Tell your clients you're taking time off. For example, "I wanted to give you a heads up that I will be taking some time off next month and will be unavailable from [date to date]. In the meantime, please keep sending work my way - I have the capacity for 1-2 projects a week before I take off."

Tell your clients early

For freelancers, time off work is time not making money. However, it doesn't mean you shouldn't take a vacation - it means you need to budget for it. For example, it could mean raising your rates and taking on more assignments in the months leading to your vacation. Set up a business account for your freelance income, then schedule regular automatic payments to your personal account so that you have a regular "paycheck". Build some savings in for a cushion.

Budget for your vacation

Without burning yourself out, front-load your work so that you can fit all your projects early. This is easiest when planning ahead and communicating with clients early so that they have a chance to send projects your way. It might mean doubling up on work for a few weeks, but it keeps your income steady.

Get ahead on your work

A key to freelance survival is setting expectations up front. Learn to say no to work opportunities scheduled on your vacation, and communicate with clients to set deadlines that work for both of you.  During a vacation, refrain from checking in on email or following up on work.

Set boundaries for yourself

Consider hiring a subcontractor to keep things moving when you have busy seasons where you don't want to say no to work. If you want to subcontract work during your vacation, start the hiring process early as it can take time to onboard the right people.

Consider subcontracting work

Create a few mantras to help ground you in reality.<ul><li>Your clients will be there when you return.</li><li>You have found work before, and you can find more when you return.</li><li>Vacation is essential. It makes you better at your work.</li></ul>

Work on your mindset

If you can't afford an extended vacation, start small with a few days or a long weekend. Stepping back to unwind will give your mind and body a chance to recharge and allow you to return with a fresh perspective and renewed energy.

Start small

Here are 8 tips for how to unplug on vacation when you run a freelance business.

Here’s how to take time off as a freelancer

Whether it’s the weekend or an upcoming holiday break, a number of studies have shown that people who set personal goals to achieve during their time off — such as seeing friends, pursuing a hobby, or even organizing a closet — report being happier than those who don’t.
The reason this works is that it makes us more intentional about how we will spend our time away from work and not because it allows us to cross things off from yet another to-do list.

Intentional Time Spent Is Better

Employees who have holiday goals further anticipate allocating 24% less time to passive leisure activities such as watching TV, napping, or doing nothing, and 28% more time to socializing with their friends and family. 
These differences in how we plan to spend our time off matter for our well-being: Studies show that planning to spend more time with loved ones is associated with greater happiness. This is in line with one of the most consistent finding in time-use and well-being <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21678165/">research</a> on the unique benefits of social connection.

Time Well Spent

Similar to holidays, people who have goals for their weekends are also more likely to spend their weekends pursuing social activities and less likely to spend their weekends resting or doing nothing. And spending one’s weekend engaging in social activities may in turn lead to greater happiness.
The positive effects of setting goals aren’t just limited to weekends and holidays, but can actually be tapped into on a daily basis — setting goals for how we spend our evenings can even be beneficial.

Have A Goal For The Weekend

While setting goals for our time-off is important, that doesn’t mean we should treat those goals like a to-do list. We should be flexible.
<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1509/jmr.14.0591?casa_token=3co9CjhhIb0AAAAA:kwErL-umQy0EvU8M7FjR4mtCaORg0mJUvCYqac6Q12rHahDHjLFkLooCZ1Zm-EnRQaSg-_VCzus">Research</a> by Gabriela Tonietto and Selin Malkoc showed that scheduling leisure activities can undermine the enjoyment people experience from such activities in part because leisure starts to feel like work. These authors found that when people scheduled leisure activities loosely, they were still able to maintain the enjoyment of leisure time.

Flexible, Fun Goals

Research suggests that setting (loose) goals can help you recharge more effectively.

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How to Make the Weekend Feel Longer

The Best Way to End Your Workday

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Here’s how to take time off as a freelancer

Be Intentional About How You Spend Your Time Off

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

#timeoff

IDEAS ABOUT #timeoff

How to Make the Weekend Feel Longer

The Best Way to End Your Workday

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

Here’s how to take time off as a freelancer

Be Intentional About How You Spend Your Time Off

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career