One of the best things about being self-employed is that you’re not bound by the statutory ration of 28 days’ holiday per year. It means the kids can stay home with you in summer too, and you don’t need to be an accountant to know that’ll save you a fortune in childcare costs.
Still, holidays aren’t easy. Clients don’t stop needing things just because you’re on a beach somewhere, and kids will be kids whether you’re snowed under with deadlines or not. But don’t worry – you needn’t be a master juggler to pull this off. Check out our tips to avoid a holiday meltdown.
Working in the school holidays
Call in the cavalry
Unless you’re super nanny, full-time parenting and running a successful business can be a tough combination. Now’s the time to call in family babysitting favours, or if you’ve got a self-employed friend, you could offer to take each other’s kids one day each week to make sure you both get some breathing space.
Rise and shine
When they’re home all day, get up early and check off your most important tasks before they wake up. Early morning cartoons might buy you some extra time too.
Get technical
Embrace Google Hangouts and Skype in place of face-to-face meetings, and to save yourself hours of inbox trawling, try unroll.me. It filters your important emails, then sends you a nice, neat, easy-to-digest summary of the rest.
Holiday from work
Plan ahead
To minimise the risk of an emergency, give your clients plenty of notice that you’re going away and ask them to send anything urgent before you leave. Turn off your work email notifications and set aside specific times to check it so you can relax properly. Be strict with yourself – if it can wait until you’re home, leave it.
Delegation, delegation, delegation
You might not have any colleagues to speak of, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a helping hand. My Accountant Friend takes care of your finances whether you’re on your hols or not, which gives you one less thing to worry about. Hiring a virtual assistant can be a good idea, too. They’ll answer your calls and set up meetings for when you return, and if something important comes up, they’ll contact you on your private number.
Make sure to agree with them what ‘important’ really means to your business – you don’t want someone coming through because they think you’ve been mis-sold PPI.
