Now that I’ve planted that ear worm firmly…
Because things were slow, I decided to head off to spend some quality time with the parents, the husband, and the fish I’m about to catch (there’s confidence for you!). And because I made that decision, the work came rolling in. I mean, where last week there was a drought, this week is a monsoon.
For that reason, I worked this weekend. I don’t do that normally. In fact, I fence off my weekends, protect them, and enjoy every lazy minute of them. But if I want to play, I have to do double duty this week. And there won’t be enough hours in the day – this I know already. And let’s just put the cherry on top – I can’t relax until things are done. As my mom used to say when we wanted to run off and play without doing the supper dishes, I’m the “get it done so you can sit down” kind of person. Thanks to Mom for that work ethic.
I didn’t – wouldn’t – work July 4th. But July 5th, I managed to get out 2 blog posts, some editing, and a press release. I know I have a client project from Hell returning today (no worries – it’s a client of a client and there are no traces back to me, so no way to embarrass anyone). It’s a revision that last time took entirely too many edits and too much input from a very demanding sort. I don’t look forward to this. But knowing other stuff is hanging over my head – I wouldn’t sleep at all if I didn’t get a jump start on it. So I worked on a Sunday.
How about you? I know some of you work weekends or whenever you feel like it, not setting hours, but rolling with your clients’ needs or making it up as you go. Do you work holiday weekends, too? For those of you who, like me, set hours and guard weekends, when do you make the exception?
By the way, pop on over to good friend Kirk Petersen’s blog and wish him a happy first blogging anniversary! His blog is chock full of insight and good spirit.
I RARELY work for business clients on the weekends, unless I've been on an out-of-town gig that puts me behind on one of their projects.
If I work on weekends, it's fiction and articles.
No editing (of client projects). No business writing, unless I'm making up for time taken during the week. But I still don't send it until normal business hours roll around again. I don't want them to get into the habit of thinking I'm available to them on weekends without time and a half.
Remember, I spent many years on Broadway. WE ALWAYS work weekends and holidays. It took me awhile to figure out what I was willing to do on those days outside of theatre, and how much to charge.
I typically keep very regular business hours. I only work weekends when it's absolutely unavoidable, as in, I have 100 hours of work to do in the next seven days. I will, however, answer emails on the weekend and schedule tasks for the upcoming week. If things are slow, I'll also spend an hour or so Saturday morning looking for new opportunities.
Like Devon and Krista, when needed I'll squeeze in a little work on weekends. But I try not to make it a habit.
Yesterday I had an idea for my column, so I wrote it Sunday afternoon (after a marathon day of yard work, which I detest)instead of waiting for Monday morning. And last night I was hit with an idea for a humorous essay and hand wrote a couple hundred words while watching TV.
When I have piles of interviews to transcribe I find it easier to do those on weekends when I generally have fewer interruptions.
As much as I relish weekends when I don't even look at the computer, right now I'd love to be so flooded with work that I'd have to work weekends and evenings to get it all done.
Spent the weekend, yes, working. It's that never-ending fear that if I don't accept and bull through every job, I'll never get another one. Fortunately, right now I have enough to be able to work through a holiday weekend, so there ya go.
Lori, I posted a link to your "Clients Primer" post on Inked-In; I know several fellow members have come back here to read it, so … you're welcome!
I, too, try to fence off weekends.
It usually works, but if I run into a jam, there's not much I can do about it. So I mostly don't work weekends, but, alas, sometimes I must.
Thanks, Joseph! I've had little time to go anywhere on the Internet, so I do appreciate spreading the word and the camraderie! 🙂
I'll admit, I'm one of those who usually ends up working the weekends. It allows me to spend morre time during the week with me horse, so it's worth it to me. The work I do on the weekend is usually done late at night or while my husband does homework, so that it doesn't interfere with our weekend plans too much.
Thanks for the plug, Lori!
My work hours are very irregular — and recently they've been very sparse. This style isn't working for me, I need to start setting short-term and long-term goals for myself and have more discipline about working a certain number of hours every day, or maybe every week.
I work very hard when I have actual assignments, but when the only thing scheduled is to send out more inquiries and job apps that I expect to be fruitless… I have a harder time getting on my game face.
That said, my lovely wife and I spent virtually the entire three-day weekend holed up in our home offices. I've filed a motion, I got my ex-wife's cross-motion on Thursday, and my reply certificate is due this week. So I was cranking hard — for a "break," I posted on my blog.
There's potentially a lot of money at stake, and I feel good about where we are with our reply, so I'm glad I put in the time. The beautiful weather was very welcome, even though we experienced it primarily through our open windows.
TMI? Ah, whatever. Thanks again for the mention Lori.
Knowing your story from nearly the start, Kirk, never TMI. Good luck with that!
After about 14 months of working primarily from my home office, I find that I've been far from successful in my efforts to establish "regular working hours."
Knowing that I'm much more productive post-noon, I've finally stopped getting overly angst-y at my relative lack of morning accomplishments, but I still find myself working way too late at night & too often on weekends.
Back when I worked for the military, the operative term for this phenomenon was "mission creep" — even the smallest tasks morphing into larger & more time-consuming activities.
Suffice it to say that I consider myself more than sufficiently mission-creeped 🙂
Having the choice to work on weekends, early mornings or late evenings is what I like about freelancing.
I can usually accomplish my writing and editing assignments during "usual" office hours, but as long as I meet deadlines, I can choose to work evenings.
I also work as an administrative assistant for a building contractor 700 miles from here. Because of the nature of his work, often early mornings, evenings and weekends are the only times he has to take care of office work. My flexibility as a freelancer is the reason I've worked for him for about 15 years.
That said, I'm always striving for better management of my time.
I try very hard not to work on weekends, but sometimes . . . when it's unavoidable . . . I will. But I don't think I've ever worked on a holiday. If my clients get to enjoy the day off, so should I!
Hugh, that's the second time this short week I've seen the term "mission creep." That must mean I'm meant to finish that article in The Atlantic. 🙂
Because I have a wonderful spouse who works days, that's when I choose to work. Also, the clients I deal with are more or less corporates – again, they work weekdays.
I remember having one client who hinted quite a lot about my working through a long holiday weekend. If I were being paid extra, sure. But because the lack of planning on that side was the cause – sorry. I'll accommodate you when I can. My long weekends are "me" time.