Freelancers work hard. Regardless of what kind of freelancing you do, you’re no stranger to long hours and never-ending responsibilities from one business role to the next. Even if you have set hours for work that are long but reasonable, you’ll also have other business-related tasks to do at the end of the day. All of that adds up to the point where you need time for yourself. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Freelancing makes its own hours

Anyone who’s in freelancing life knows that sometimes the hours set themselves. Even though you hypothetically choose your hours, you don’t have total control over your hours. It’s just a normal way of life for freelancers. Here are some things to remember:

• Your queue will be waiting for you after your time off: Even if you have a loaded queue, it’ll be there when you take time off. Remember that “time off” could be an afternoon off. Or, a 2-3 day weekend, if you feel comfortable. You’ll learn how long you need to get your “you time” in. Adjust until you get just the right balance.

• If you don’t make time for it now, you’ll be forced to do so later: This is hard to read, perhaps, but it’s true. Refusing to take off when you kinda-sorta know you should, means that you are delaying your needs. Eventually, you won’t be able to delay them anymore and will have to deal with them immediately. And it may mean that you have to take a leave of absence to do so since built-up stress can mean that you need to take a total leave until you can recover enough to return.

• Your needs matter, too: You have personal needs physically, but you also have them mentally. You need to take time for a social life — whatever that looks like for you. You also need to put time into your hobbies, etc. These needs are as important as eating, sleeping, and freelancing, after all.

• There’s no reward for working the hardest: This one is a gut punch for me, I have to admit. I’m a hard worker and always feel I should be rewarded somehow. I am, of course, but I feel like I should get something tangible that says I’m the best freelancer in the world. Since we spend so much time working, we think the effort will equal the reward. But sometimes, it doesn’t work that way, and meanwhile, life is slipping past. So, I had to stop chasing that trophy and learn where the line is between “enough” and “overboard.”

Make time for your human side

This is something that I talked about in my book because it’s not always something that gets a whole lot of focus outside of how to recognize burnout or how to take a vacation as a freelancer (which I’ll discuss next time).

The thing is, you are a human first and a freelancer second. If you are sacrificing your life to make your freelancing career succeed, you aren’t doing right by yourself. Sure, there will be times when you have to work long hours and make sacrifices. That’s normal. But if all you’re doing is sacrificing, are you really “winning” anything? Some food for thought, maybe.

What do you think? How do you other freelancers approach the balance of time off and dedicated freelancing time? Do you have any tips you’d like to add to this list? If so, share away! We have to stick together!