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A post I've been thinking about for a while
There's something I've been talking to friends about, but have never actually posted about, and it is this: I know a lot of freelance people (me included) who really hit a burnout wall this summer/fall, and I think a significant part of that - aside from the general stress of the Everything™, is that we never take vacations anymore. I mean, think about it. Obviously not everyone does, not everyone can, but most freelance people take about as much vacation as people working a regular 9 to 5 in the course of a normal year. We visit our families and friends, we entertain visiting friends and family, sometimes we go places just for fun.
And now we've all been working nonstop, week in and week out, for a year and a half, or more, and we're all slamming into mental and emotional walls of fatigue.
After hitting my own wall in July and August, I ended up taking a big chunk of September "off." It hasn't been quite as much of a vacation as I planned because I ended up with some pretty significant work stuff going on too (I edited a book, wrote mailing list short stories, etc) but I've been leaving my unwritten novels on the shelf, giving myself permission to spend the day reading books and writing fanfic if I want to, and that kind of thing. In October I'm getting back on the horse and working on novels again, but freelancers need time off too. And if you haven't been taking time off because you can't go anywhere, spending a week sleeping in and doing things for fun is 100% worth it for your state of mind. If you're worried about lost work time, in the long run you'll probably work more efficiently and get more done if you take some time off -- and maybe save yourself a massive case of burnout that could take years to recover from.
It's something to think about, anyway.
And now we've all been working nonstop, week in and week out, for a year and a half, or more, and we're all slamming into mental and emotional walls of fatigue.
After hitting my own wall in July and August, I ended up taking a big chunk of September "off." It hasn't been quite as much of a vacation as I planned because I ended up with some pretty significant work stuff going on too (I edited a book, wrote mailing list short stories, etc) but I've been leaving my unwritten novels on the shelf, giving myself permission to spend the day reading books and writing fanfic if I want to, and that kind of thing. In October I'm getting back on the horse and working on novels again, but freelancers need time off too. And if you haven't been taking time off because you can't go anywhere, spending a week sleeping in and doing things for fun is 100% worth it for your state of mind. If you're worried about lost work time, in the long run you'll probably work more efficiently and get more done if you take some time off -- and maybe save yourself a massive case of burnout that could take years to recover from.
It's something to think about, anyway.
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I'd also argue that "taking a day off" is a completely different thing than "a vacation". Normally on a vacation you physically can't work for a week because you're off Doing Things. Taking a day off because you're tired is more akin to having a Sunday off in a normal 9-5 work schedule, we still do that. But taking a week or MORE off is where people hit the "but I should be working??" brain weasel guilt. I think we all need an actual vacation, after last year. As in, at least 4 consecutive days off doing something other than what you do in your day job.
also: *hugs*
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YES. I had totally been taking individual days off the entire time. But apparently that doesn't give you the whole-body "relax and unwind" time that an actual vacation does. And it doesn't even have to involve doing nothing (vacations are often very busy!); it's just that your brain needs to spend some time not doing the things it normally does, whether deliberate or accidental, with no or at least minimal guilt over it because you've given yourself permission for this.
Now if I could only get FIAB written.
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Yes!
And sometimes this involved being fannish or consuming an unrelated fandom. That's a "vacation" too.
>FIAB
What's this FIAB thing? ʘ‿ʘ
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*sob*
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Sounds fake. *pokes brain*
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I think at this point I exist in the state of a thin film spread unevenly across the wall. I am very glad you have had at least some vacation this month.
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nd if you haven't been taking time off because you can't go anywhere, spending a week sleeping in and doing things for fun is 100% worth it for your state of mind.
Yes, yes, yes! Heartily seconded, even from my pov as an employed person with a generous leave allowance. I did pretty much that the first week possible after my children went back to school this spring (after ~10 weeks of remote schooling while also attempting to work my day job remotely). I didn't get to sleep in, but I did get a week with approx 5 hours a day where nobody needed anything from me and it was brilliant.
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Hugs!!!
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I think of it this way - until the day I manage robots, I am managing people, and people need time off, they need to feel heard, etc etc. No one can work at 100% indefinitely. We wear out, and we wear out faster if we never get a break!
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Hope you enjoy/ed your time off <3
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I hope your break helped a lot.
***hugs***