by Jael Strong
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The sun, the sand, the relaxing rhythm of the crashing waves – this is paradise. The cool drink on a hot day, the delicious food, the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that keeps reminding me that there is something I just have to do! What is happening to my vacation?!
Here I am in sunny Florida, sleeping in everyday, and I should be thrilled to be a thousand miles from Ohio (and I am, mostly), but I have sabotaged my vacation. I should have done one of many things to avoid working while on vacation, but I didn’t, and so for at least a few minutes everyday, I pay the price for not planning well enough in advance.
Blogging is a regular gig. Whether we blog daily, weekly, monthly, or seasonally, the expectation is that our blog will show up when it is supposed to show. Blogging inconsistently isn’t an option since we hope that readers will come back at the expected time to read more of our great content. If we’re a no-show that is bad for business.
But vacation is a chance to get away from it all, even blogging. So, what should I have done to keep myself from having to work while on vacation? Oh, to be able to travel back in time…
Trading Places
If you’re fortunate enough, as I am, you have at least small network of individuals with whom to trade work. I had many opportunities to cut back on my vacation workload. During the planning phases, I should have said to Terez Howard, my writing cohort, I’ll take that assignment if you take this assignment. Even as my vacation days approached and I saw that I had work scheduled during vacation time, I could have given Terez a quick call to ask for a switch, but I didn’t. So sad, so sad…
Doubling Up
I know someone who always has their work done well in advance. That is great! If you can get the writing out of the way before vacation, then you certainly don’t have to worry about it while on vacation. This would have been a wonderful option for me. I could have organized myself so that I did twice as much writing the week before my trip, freeing up vacation time. Even if I had done a portion of the writing in advance, it would have lightened my vacation workload.
Paring Down
Admittedly, this is what I did. I didn’t trade or double up, but it is never too late to decide that something can wait for later. Obviously, if you are writing for a client or for someone else who is relying on you, you can’t short change them. But I took a look I my “to do” list and decided that some of the behind the scenes activity could wait until I was back home in Ohio, enjoying the warmth inside as the frigid air blows outside.
I really must go now. There is going to be live band playing poolside soon and I want to reserve my place in the sun. In the meantime though, how do you organize your blogging around vacation time?Â
Jael Strong writes for TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients authority status and net visibility. She has written both fiction and non-fiction pieces for print and online publications. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas .
Thanks, Jael
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
