The family and I took a vacation. Yep! You read that right! I’m a freelancer, but still manage to take a vacation! How does that work? Well, let me tell you! With a little planning and a little help from my friends. (You all know how I believe planning helps set us up for success…)
Right now I have two wonderful ladies who are willing to cover for me while I’m away from my phone and computer, so nothing falls through the cracks. But before they have even the slightest risk of being called upon, I spend time planning and moving all of my open projects to the point where they can rest for a bit.
I make it a practice to only have two projects active at a time so I can give individual attention to my clients. I also try to schedule both my projects and my time away so that they are at a point where the client and I can both rest.
Planning A Break
Just like with any extended project its tempting to just battle through to the end, step back, admire your work…and then go back through and make a million little changes until it’s perfect. With a little planning you might be able to avoid that last step.
I find that for me, with website projects it’s good to move things along to a certain point, then hand ideas, concepts or almost-done pages to the client and then we all sit on them.
We both contemplate what’s been completed to this point and really think through the journey a visitor might take on the site and try to experience it like a visitor would.
After a break of a few days to a week we both tend to come back with renewed vigor, maybe a few revisions, and ready to get the website launched. (If that week includes lying around at the beach even better! But sometimes it just means not answering phone calls or emails, or working on something completely different. And that’s fine, too!)
Breaks Spur Imagination
I’ll be back to working on website pages and rearing to go on Monday with a fresh mind and inspired creativity.
I’m a firm believer that spending a little time away from an intense project spurs the imagination. Don’t think I mean this is just for us ‘creative types’ but for everyone who uses their minds. And that means all of us!
Take Action
So next time you’re feeling frustrated or are in the middle of a project and feel it’s not going anywhere…anytime you feel like you’re just pushing through to the end…take a step away.
If you’re in the middle of a project and have the opportunity to take a break and spend time in different surroundings, go for it!
Better yet, when you’re planning your next project build a break in to it!
Time away does a mind good!
