It’s true: when you work from home or own a home business, you find that you rarely get a true vacation. People in traditional jobs get holidays off, but when you are freelancing, you may not get that same time off. If you do want time off, it requires advance planning. For instance, I have been planning my workload for the holidays for the last month, in the hopes that I can enjoy some time off. Here are some things you can do to help you get ready for the holidays:

* Work a little extra: I normally do not work weekends. However, I have been working a couple of hours on Saturday lately to get some extra work done. Those two hours, added up over a few weeks, are really showing some advantages. I’ll be able to take Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day totally off. And I’ll have shortened days on Black Friday and Christmas Eve.

* Pre-post: Along with working a little extra ahead of time, I find that the magic of technology can be immensely helpful. Yes, some of my blogs will post up on Thursday. But I won’t be doing it. Nope. I’ll be scheduling the posts ahead of time to post automatically, so I don’t have to do it the day of. The same thing will happen on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

* Cut back on projects: I limit the number of new projects I take on during the holiday season. In some cases, I just let people know that my availability starts in January. This can alleviate some of the pressure, especially since I schedule most major projects to end prior to Thanksgiving. This allows me a more relaxed holiday season, and the chance to be more comfortable throughout.

* Prepare your finances: Obviously, if you are going to cut back on projects during the holidays, you have to be prepared. I take advantage of windfall months to set money aside for use during the holidays so that I have the resources to take it a little easier.

What do you do to prepare your freelancing business for the holidays?