Vacations are hard as a consultant…
Yes yes yes, slight tweak: "vacations are hard as a consult if your definition of vacation includes truly checking out."
I'm not a consultant, but doing PR can be challenging, too, if you are the only publicist at your company. I have yet to unplug for a vacation, but fortunately, I haven't had any significant crises during my time off. It also helped that I tend to visit Asia with my family, so when they go to bed, I can do any work in the perfect time zone for the US without cutting into my trip.
It is hard. I struggled with it for years. I recently took time off - gave clients six weeks notice - and didn’t log in or come back to a blizzard of emails. I think the key may have been in having long term retainers vs projects.
I was JUST saying this. Every hour you don't bill is an hour you... don't bill. (Funny how that works.)
I find them hard in all senses - when I am supposed to be on one it’s hard to unplug, and when I’m just bobbing between clients I can’t enjoy that either.
I was just having this very discussion. I think it's a double whammy if you're a consultant AND you work in the 24/7 field of communications.
So very true
Agreed. It is mostly "work from a more exotic location..."
Director of Marketing, Top Notch Distributors
10moAgreed. In the nearly three years I've been a consultant, I've gone on several "vacations" and trips... but during each one of them, I woke up early to respond to emails and handle client issues. Usually, I was able to deal with this each morning and have the rest of the day to enjoy whatever we had planned. That being said, I also did that as an employee... early emails, plus texts and phone calls from co-workers throughout the day. Is there really such a thing as a true vacation anymore where you can completely check out?