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Life As a Freelance Translator – Part Two
No matter which holiday you celebrate, December can be a very busy month. The pressure caused by added personal and professional commitments is especially intense for many freelancers and entrepreneurs. Between holiday parties, family events and deadlines, time is even tighter than usual. Others feel a financial crunch, as clients reduce their workload to prepare for vacation. Whatever stress you might be feeling, here are some tips to help you make the most of the holiday season.
Plan Ahead
Whether you have a large family coming into town or countless party invitations from clients and friends, you’ll likely have less time and energy to focus on work in the coming weeks. It’s essential to sit down with your calendar ahead of the crunch to carve out enough time to meet deadlines and attend work-related events. It’s also important to decide which days you’d like to take for vacation so you can put your feet up and unplug – even for a day or two. Planning ahead will allow you to foresee when your busiest times will be, and can help you decide which events to attend – or decline.
Make Choices You don’t have to say yes to every invitation. That said, if one of your more important clients invites you out, you should make that event a priority. Don’t run yourself ragged going to every party because that could lead to another hallmark of the holiday season – illness. Business owners know they need a backup plan in case they do get sick, so spend some time thinking about how you would balance all of your personal and professional demands if you catch the cold that’s going around.
Communicate
Once you’ve set your schedule, tell your clients when you’ll be available and when you plan to be offline during the holidays. By giving them a heads-up, they won’t be caught off guard if you don’t answer their calls or emails on certain days. Also, by giving your clients advance notice, you’ll be able decide on deadlines that work for both of you.
Crunch the Numbers
The end of the year can be an extremely busy time for freelancers as clients rush to complete projects. Planning ahead can spread out the work a little, and also spread out those paycheques coming in! For others, December can be very slow. If this is true for your business, you could use the extra time to do some planning and strategizing for the year ahead.
Hone the Holiday Spirit
Holiday parties are a chance to socialize and have fun, but they can also be an opportunity to market yourself and your company. The season presents the perfect time to reach out to current and prospective clients by giving them a branded gift that they’ll continue to use. Be sure it’s high quality though – you don’t want your brand associated with a pen that doesn’t work or a broken umbrella.
Happy Holidays from PVT!!
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By Laura Regehr
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