For a long time I worked 7 days a week on my freelance business. I noticed that my work began to get more and more efficient. Writers block, procrastination, and a complete lack of motivation really affected my work. About two months ago I began forcing myself to step away and take weekends off. I've noticed since then my work has become much more productive and there is a significant difference in the quality of the work. I was curious how many freelancers work on weekends- and if you do / don't, what is your reasoning behind doing so?
I think it's all about the money. Sometimes you're forced to work during weekends like today when you're on a tight budget or need something. Thoughts? Freelance means any day can be a weekend unlike in 9-5 jobs.
That's very true. I definitely have had moments throughout my life where working weekends was required to pay my bills. I'm really blessed to be able to take weekends off now. Do you work less hours on weekends? Where/ when do you schedule in breaks throughout your week to keep from getting burnt out?
When I feel that I've done a substantial job and that I'm proud of the achievement, I can then take a day off with family, friends or alone depending. I tend to believe that working as a freelancer is the best gift. Tried some white collar 9-5 and trust me it's not easy out there. With a consistent flow of work I can even work for a month non-stop. Which kind of freelance work do you do?
I don't tend to work weekends unless I feel I'm behind with my work or a client pays for next day delivery. Spending time with my family is more important to me than the potential money I could earn.
Yes I do, but I can't give them my full attention when working. I agree with what you're saying though.
I often work weekends, but then again there's many days during Monday to Friday where I find myself without work. You have to work when you can, I suppose.
I work as much as my eyes can handle 4-5 days a week, sometimes on weekends. I take smoke, reboot, and defrag breaks. I do produce a better quality of work when I take a couple days off. Have to force myself sometimes.
I did, for the first 10 years and burnt myself out. I did the work as it came in, rather than slotting it into a spot, in case other work came in. But then I worked with a Business Coach and he taught me how to bring my 7 days a week back to 4. I now do client work Mondays to Thursdays. I use Fridays for working on my business, writing blog posts and articles, networking, marketing, following up clients and so on, and now have weekends and evenings free for my personal interests. Sometimes that might mean redesigning my website or exploring some new program or tool I've heard about - but I can choose to do those things on my time, not borrowing time from when I should be doing client stuff.
That's really good advice and very disciplined! I find that I typically just work when the job comes in to get it completed right away. Sometimes internet connections fail or life gets in the way so I feel more comfortable diving straight in before an issue comes up.
This is a nice topic. In my case, I think if one works 9-5 during the weekdays, you need to invest at least some time during the weekends to increase the quality of your freelancing: for example, registering for a freelance site takes about a couple of minutes, but actually working on your profile (proofread, look for examples of successful profiles, writing a nice about me, etc) is something that you have to dedicate time to. Time that is not available after a long day at work. Besides, as mentioned before, money matters: if you really need it, you will have to do some extra work (which you can compensate by taking days off later on).
What sort of upcharge do you add for next-day delivery? I have been struggling to find a percentage that is fair to both parties.
It depends upon the deadline given by your client. If you're busy in your routine job and can't give time to your side hustle, you can choose weekends to complete that project.
