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.
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