Freelancers: hang out your "Gone Fishing" sign

A common challenge faced by freelance professionals is setting clear working hours and sticking to them. Too many times projects creep over into weekends, evenings, and vacations. How many times have you found yourself working on a 'sick day' or taking a 'working vacation'?
Of course, for many, the opportunity to work evenings or weekends to compensate for other activities is an attractive factor of freelance projects. Freelancers know that a major job perk is managing their own schedules. But whether someone organizes their freelance work much like a Monday through Friday nine-to-five job or a freelancer prefers the graveyard shift to work on projects, at some point, time off needs to be taken.
And with the Holiday season just a few days away, the challenge of organizing vacation time is top-of-mind for many freelancers.
Common advice includes plan ahead, take time off when there is a lull in your work, and give your clients a heads up about your vacation plans. But most freelancers will tell you it’s hard to say no to a project if it is being offered to you.
For TDABids.com account holders, our new project management system includes a feature allowing language professionals to set their account to ‘Inactive’ when they need time off: away on vacation, too much work or sick. When the account setting is set to ‘Inactive’ freelancers will not receive any new price quote requests. It allows freelancers to hang a virtual “Gone Fishing” sign.
The TDABids.com platform gives freelance language professionals a series of unique tools to manage their freelance jobs at no charge. To find out more, visit our site www.TDATranslator.com

Season’s Greeting and Happy New Year from A World in Translation