The Burnt Out Freelancer
☕️ Hey there, burnt-out freelancer! Welcome to The Burnt Out Freelancer Podcast, the show for entrepreneurial women who need a giant hug, another cup of coffee and realistic advice for navigating this freelance life.
Join hosts LaTara + Molly as they tell it like it is, on the not-so-glamorous side of freelancing that no one really talks about. You know, like how to stop working at midnight, on the weekends or when your kids are asking for the 15 millionth snack 10 minutes before dinner. Or what to do when you've got nothing but tumbleweeds in your inbox and your bank account's dwindling.
Through funny rants, blunt advice, and empowering chats, LaTara + Molly have got your back. They'll teach you how to set boundaries with family and friends who just don't get your freelance business. How to attract aligned clients so you can finally quit wasting time on manic clients. And most importantly, how to create a sustainable freelance biz you actually enjoy, instead of one that has you crying in the shower.
So grab your favorite sweats, a cozy blanket and let's get real about the freelance life. It's time to stop burning out, start scaling up, and build your profitable freelance biz on your own terms. Even if you are a single parent, suffer from chronic illness (like us), anxiety…AKA a millennial or just not clear on how to start. You've got this!
Follow + Download The Show Now…or else 😈
The Burnt Out Freelancer
How to Survive the Work From Home Overload Without Losing Your Sh*t this Holiday Season
🎄 Freelancer friends, let’s get real about surviving holiday peak season with scraps of sanity intact, shall we?
In this seasonal episode, we’re going ALL in on how to sidestep holiday overwhelm so you can actually, y’know, enjoy the freakin’ festivities instead of just mainlining caffeine and crying under your desk the whole time.
Here’s what we’ll be spilling the eggnog on:
☕ Our biggest holiday season fails and lessons learned the hard way
☕ Why setting festive boundaries is key to not absolutely losing your sh*t
☕ Tangible time management tricks for minimizing holiday workload wreckage
☕ Planning ahead without becoming the antisocial hermit scribbling endless to-do list
☕ How we give ourselves wiggle room for seasonal self-care guilt-free
Bottom line - prioritizing both sanity AND the grind is fully possible over the holidays as a freelancer if you use these tips!
So get cozy with some cocoa as we share our best advice and personal experience for not only surviving but THRIVING this crazy season.
Time to work smarter, not harder so it’s your most wonderful freelance season ever!
Our Service Guides:
Molly’s Services
LaTara’s Services
Try our Fav Email Marketing Platform for free today
💾 Check out our favorite Project Management and daily digital planner - Sunsuma! Sign up for a 30 Day Free Trial and make work-life balance a reality so you can feel calm and stay focused.
If you are loving this episode, share it on your Instagram stories and tag us (links below) 📲
Follow us:
Molly’s IG
LaTara’s IG
Platforms We Love!
Molly likes Freshbooks
LaTara likes Honeybooks
📬 Let’s be penpals - send us your questions, feedback + all your deepest darkest secrets here - imtired@theburntoutfreelancer.com
Like the Episode? Buy Us A Coffee to let us know because let’s be honest we need Caffeine to survive
Leave us a review or else 😈
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/burntoutfreelancer
Molly Block: [00:00:00]
Molly Block: The holiday stress is real. Freelance friends, while all that seasonal spirit can warm, even the coldest of screw charts, we know your overflowing workload is less than jolly. Before your demanding deadlines cause you to go full on Grinch, take a breath and join us for a festive episode of the Burnout Freelancer Podcast.
Molly Block: To step out of survival mode, we'll strategize how to prevent burning out so you can enjoy at least a small cup full of that festive cheer. We'll be serving up actionable tactics like blocking off me time amidst the madness, setting firm boundaries with clients. Staying laser focused on your priorities and then consider these holiday productivity hacks, our gift to you tools to help you keep calm, carry on, and continue creating your heart out all season long.
Molly Block: Together.
LaTara Dunn: Hey, everybody. How's it going? so Molly, [00:01:00] how do you feel about this topic? I am I'm pretty passionate about this because the holidays are supposed to be super fun, right? And we always are aware of the people that still work, the nine to five type of job. They get out, they get done, they clock out. Everybody's like, Hey, end of day, does it really mean End of December, And they all just kind of , let's just take December off and not take anything seriously. However, I feel like in our world, most of our clients are currently trying to plan stuff along the lines of kicking off 2024 or you know, a lot of our clients, coach, so they really are trying to ramp up and finish up the year strong to start the next year. Really powerful. And while they have all of their clients in that new year feel, [00:02:00] and so we always have so many projects going on and
LaTara Dunn: Can be stressful for me. How is it for you?
Molly Block: Oh God. I mean, it's definitely stressful. I just like wake me up when not September ends, when December ends.
LaTara Dunn: Yeah, exactly.
Molly Block: Because everyone is trying to end the year strong and have sales for Christmas and revamp their offerings for the new year like you said, I work with a lot of coaches too, and. Most of the time, you realize what you could have maybe done better in a certain year, so you wanna apply that to the next year.
Molly Block: So most of my clients we're kind of going through that preparation, planning step right now where we have, you know, things we wanna execute, but it's all gonna be beginning next year. And there's so much backend stuff that needs to be completed in December to make sure all of these things can flow and [00:03:00] roll out smoothly, effectively.
Molly Block: And it can be a lot because on top of your client load, especially, you know, if you're a parent, you're trying to think about, the Christmas gifts and the Christmas tree and getting everyone together and driving around and seeing Christmas lights while you have all these other tasks that you're trying to do for your clients.
Molly Block: , it's not like a nine to five where you just clock out andwhatever you got done that day is enough. Sometimes we have deadlines in December that you have to work a little harder to hit that deadline because it's imperative that you don't miss it. And it can't be pushed back.
Molly Block: \ I know. it's just crunch time.
LaTara Dunn: Yeah, exactly. I have 1, 2, 3, 4 clients that are. Launching something. So they're in their up phase right now where they're getting their audience ready for something that's coming within the next week or so. And the reason [00:04:00] that they're doing that is because they have, you know, a workshop or a training or a masterclass or whatever. And AF after that is complete, they're going to be launching something that's either a membership or a group coaching program or a one-on-one type of strategy for their higher level clients. And they have to plan around the holidays as well,
LaTara Dunn: especially when it comes to marketing. And so marketing, when you, if your clients do ads, is. Difficult and expensive. Right around the holidays from Thanksgiving all the way to the new year because there's so much happening in the ads space in regards to, selling products
LaTara Dunn: and ,you know, and it's just constant. Emails and sales and offers and end of the year deals and all of that stuff. And so they're fighting against a [00:05:00] lot of noise to be heard. And so you have to extend your runways due to that and the launch phases and whatnot. And you have to make sure that you're planning, you know, the deadlines and the target launch dates around. Christmas, for example.
LaTara Dunn: , I'm a mom and so what that means in my world is kids get done school the Friday before Christmas this year, and then they don't go back to the new year.
LaTara Dunn: So my kids are home for 10 or so days, and that means that I'm not gonna be able to take any client calls, right? Unless if Nick's home, but he might not be. He might be at his job. And so. I have to make sure that I have everything done before then. And the few days up until Christmas are also very chaotic because I'm trying to make sure I have ev all my gifts done, all my things wrapped, or you know, and so [00:06:00] I'm kind of like checked out even before then.
LaTara Dunn: Right?
Molly Block: Oh, absolutely.
LaTara Dunn: Yeah, but my still have these deadlines that need to be met, so it can be really stressful. It's important when they're launching something that you have a very candid conversation with your client about the time that you're gonna be taking off and realistic expectations from them. So everybody's things are still getting done.
Molly Block: Exactly. Yeah. And for, whatever holiday you Celebrate. You should definitely be taking that off to spend time with your friends, your family, and you shouldn't feel bad about it. You deserve the time.
Molly Block: Everyone else, at nine to fives, they get off. So you should definitely get off too. So if you're somebody who, works day and night, make sure you're giving yourself a little extra TLC like you need some me time. [00:07:00] fiRst of all, you should be able to enjoy some me time throughout December before your actual holiday comes up.
Molly Block: And again, whatever you celebrate. Because there's things you wanna do in December, right? And that's okay. Just making sure when you do take off for the holidays, giving your clients that heads up and giving 'em plenty of time. And reasonable expectations because you don't wanna tell your client four days before Christmas, oh, I'm gonna be off for a week.
Molly Block: Your client's gonna flip and shit a brick. Like that is something that you should be having a conversation with them about the beginning of December, and I did it. I did it in November. What did
LaTara Dunn: Yeah, it's true. I'm, and I messed up for Thanksgiving. I time flew by, I try to tell my clients at the beginning of November, basically like my estimated time off for the rest of the year. So they know because of the holiday weeks and I lost track of time [00:08:00] and I was not fully prepared for Thanksgiving because of it.
Molly Block: right? And then you're stressed because you are working to the bone. You're making sure all of these deadlines are hit, you are, making sure all the expectations from your clients are checked off and you're not really able to enjoy the holidays. If you don't plan, like, if you don't celebrate the holidays, that's okay as well, but.
Molly Block: We all deserve the time off and just making sure that , if you haven't already by the time this episode airs, you should tell your clients when you're gonna be off for the holidays.
Molly Block: And it also leads into my next thing,
Molly Block: Which I luckily don't have this issue with any of my clients, but I know clients can get a little kind of like a bridezilla around the holidays, you know? 'cause they have so many different things that they're trying to launch and whether it's new or rebuilt. So, laying out those expectations also cuts down on them, messaging you.[00:09:00]
Molly Block: A bunch saying, where is this? This isn't done. Like going back to the basic freelance 1 0 1 communication, you know?
LaTara Dunn: Yeah, absolutely.
Molly Block: yeah. Yes. Setting those boundaries and knowing that it's, we've already talked about boundaries, but in December. Still knowing it's okay. Like this weekend I already have, I sound bougie when I say this.
Molly Block: I have two Christmas trees. I'm going to get a fucking third because I wanna, I want a real tree and I'm doing it this weekend. And you know, I don't work weekends. My clients know that. But I am taking that time, even if I did have something scheduled to do something for myself because . If you are super stressed around the holidays, which as an adult or a parent, you're gonna be right, because you're trying to make sure that you hit all the marks with doing the kid things and the presents and the dinner and the family coming over like you're already stressed, but work.
Molly Block: Doesn't [00:10:00] have to add to it if you prepare and plan.
LaTara Dunn: Right, exactly.
LaTara Dunn: So what I do is first I plan out the family things. We're gonna get a tree this day. We're gonna get decorations out this day. My elf on the shelves already came out and I have, a little plan , the little elfs are gonna have little decorations pop up randomly. So it seems even easier that way for the kids.
Molly Block: Oh
LaTara Dunn: And yeah.
LaTara Dunn: and like more like tonight my plan is for the ELFS to bring out the little like countdown. To Christmas, 'cause we haven't done that yet. I'm just kind of like trying to make it as festive as possible. So after I figure that all out, then I have to start letting all of my clients know and I have to say, okay, these are the days that I'm going to be out of office and something I'm gonna do this year that I did not do last year is I'm going to turn on my out of office [00:11:00] autoresponder in my email.
LaTara Dunn: And in my, I didn't do that last year. I'm gonna do it this year and in my slack, I'm gonna set the little statement to say I am out of office until this day.
Molly Block: Yeah.
Molly Block: And that's smart. And that way you already have it set. You know, you're planning the family first, which . first and foremost is the most important, like doing the things that you wanna do. As corny as it sounds, if you don't do the things that make you happy and do that me time, family time, friend time, or it's whether it's December or not, you're not gonna be as successful once you hit the laptop once you get to your desk, because you're gonna feel like all you're doing is working.
Molly Block: And in December. We do work a lot. So it is really important to make sure that you're doing something for yourself, whether it's, reading a book or watching a Christmas movie [00:12:00] juSt making sure that you're taking care of yourself so you can also take care of your clients.
LaTara Dunn: Just be super organized when it comes to that communication. So set up a timeline, communicate it with them, And then stick to it setting those boundaries that Molly was speaking about earlier, and therefore they know what to expect the next time there's a vacation or a holiday or something like that. Maybe this is your first year of freelancing. Maybe you're just starting out so you're still not quite clear on your systems and your expectations and your communication and your boundaries and all of that. Something that Molly and I did last year around this time, we had had enough of the boundaries not being respected by these previous clients that we used to have. sO we decided, okay, starting in 2020. Three. 'cause that's what I was turning then. This is what we're gonna be doing moving forward. And we let our clients know in December when we like told them the days we were gonna [00:13:00] be off. And I remember writing this email and being like, okay, I'm sending this because starting in the new year, this is what I'm doing. and I said something along the lines of new year, fresh organize. my time is gonna be my priority for 2023 and I'm going to block my time. Therefore, I'm only having client calls on this day. And at these times are the only times I'm going to be in Slack. I might respond throughout the day, but I'm not gonna guarantee it.
LaTara Dunn: This is what I'm doing moving forward so I recommend doing that as well, taking some time to sit aside for yourself to organize. How do you envision starting fresh for the new year to get these processes set in stone? Because it's just a great time where everybody's in that mindset of organizing, you know?
Molly Block: I like how you relate it to not only your clients and how they're revamping their services [00:14:00] and their offerings and .
Molly Block: yoU know, their SOPs or whatever you wanna call it. You also can take this time to reevaluate your year. And, yeah, I mean, last December I was stressed as fuck because I had no boundaries with my clients, which was my fault.
Molly Block: I just clients were texting me, texting me on the weekends, texting me at night. If you've been following us I stopped working at like 3:00 PM because I work early in the morning and also I work for myself so I can do that. But last December, I just remember being so like overwhelmed because all these deadlines and I was being a yes man, and while everyone else was changing their business.
Molly Block: I was like, you know, fuck it, I'm gonna do the same thing. I am going to set these new standards for myself and my clients in January of 2023, and this is how [00:15:00] I'm gonna do things now. And I will say this December, I'm a lot less stressed because I've learned so much from last December and that wasn't my first
Molly Block: Freelance Christmas, but it was my first one with as many clients as I had and everyone doing the same thing, and I just wasn't that organized. So yeah, taking time to reevaluate your own business too, and, seeing what worked for you this year and what didn't and what you wanna change.
Molly Block: And I wanna mention one thing when we were talking about planning and strategies with your clients. The one thing that is super important that I forgot to mention is your clients, anything they wanted to roll out in December should have been been planned in October or November. So if you have anyone, and it depends on what it, is it could be like, I have a client who we're doing something kind of last minute, but it's a free masterclass that they register on Zoom.
Molly Block: It's just gonna be super simple, but . Most of the things [00:16:00] like sales and program launches, that should have already been all discussed in October, November. So if you and your client did not do that this year, because maybe you weren't, you know sure how this is your first year and you just weren't sure how the flow goes Now, you know, for next year, start that planning in the fall so that way when Christmas does come around,
Molly Block: You're not stressed and you can be holly and jolly and festive with also not stressing about opening your laptop.
LaTara Dunn: Yeah, I really like that a lot. And then actually it gave me an idea for next week. I think that I just wrote it down. I think we should talk about how it's a great opportunity during break when you're off to set some time aside for yourself to plan to become more organized for 2024. So just throwing that out there as a little idea, maybe we'll talk about that next week.
Track 1: I love it.
LaTara Dunn: yeah. But anyways, don't put it off [00:17:00] like, so. I have in my calendar for today actually in my, some. I have in my calendar that I need to send out my email reminder to all of my clients to let them know the times that I will be out of office for the rest of the year, and then when I will be coming back into the office for the beginning of the year.
LaTara Dunn: let's take a break real quick to talk to you about Sunsama. So Molly, I love my Sunsama you know, I'm absolutely obsessed with it. You recently started joining it and tell me where you're at with it so far and Anything you've noticed that you're excited about in regards to using this as a resource?
Molly Block: I'm so excited. First off, I wanna say LaTara has mentioned this to me numerous times. I even signed up with like a free trial and I forgot, like I just forget shit. So every day it
Molly Block: was like, oh, Sunsama, right? Oh, I'll get to it, I'll get to it. There was me putting shit off and so anyway, I had signed up for the free [00:18:00] trial, but I never used it.
Molly Block: So this morning I just realized it's December. It's December 8th, bitch. Like you have to get yourself really organized. This platform integrates with so many different things, and it's kind of an all in one. And so I just decided to take a few moments for myself and my own business and set it up.
Molly Block: And two, I. I've noticed, like I've put tasks in there today for things that I need to get done, and I like how I can time track in there.
Molly Block: I like how it will connect to my Slack. I even connected it to my Gmail, my calendar. I should have, I'm kicking myself. I should have done this so long ago because it really, I mean, it integrates with Clickup and Trello and Asana and these different . Project management platforms that I'm sure you know, your clients use at least one of 'em.
Molly Block: It integrates with all of those. And I only did it right before we started recording, so I haven't, I haven't been able to [00:19:00] dive in fully, but just from what I've seen and how my screen appears with my Google calendar and my . Gmail, emails and the tasks, and I can time them directly in there because I do a lot of hourly work, so I do track my tasks.
Molly Block: I, I love it. And I had a client recently ask me to start not only tracking my time, but track per task. And I thought that would be kind of a pain in the ass to do on the, on my app, but right in Sunsama I can put the task, whether, you know, if it's a winter retreat, I just put that in some sauna and then start the timer and it'll keep it all separate.
LaTara Dunn: Super cool, right?
Molly Block: Oh, it's freaking awesome.
LaTara Dunn: Yeah.
LaTara Dunn: so amazing when it comes to timing and you can also put when you have a meeting, so since it's connected to your Google calendar, you take notes for your client call meetings right inside the app, and you can start the timer on that [00:20:00] too. And it automatically knows, like if you're blocked off for an hour meeting, it sets the timer for 60 minutes. towards the end of the 60 minutes, it will alert you and be like, Hey, your meeting's coming to an end. Let's wrap this up, which is so cool.
Molly Block: Oh my gosh, I saw it connected with Zoom and all these different things. the last two things we kind of wanted to talk about, which we briefly went over is . Making sure you're organized and don't put things off Sunsama really like I'm, I wish I would've done it sooner because
Molly Block: it's organizing my organization platforms, like it's super organizing everything and I'm not having to look here for Slack and check my email over here and it's just, everything's right there.
Molly Block: Everything's right there. And , in December, with all your clients having all of these, most of them are gonna have. I would say pretty big. Projects, meaning they're doing their end of year sales or things like that. Obviously, it's really important trying to get that [00:21:00] income right before the year ends, trying to launch new products.
Molly Block: And you want to be as organized as possible and you don't wanna put stuff off because I'm gonna tell you right now, it's gonna be Christmas tomorrow. In the blink of an eye, like it's, it's December is going to be gone. So when you have things to do, like yes. We mentioned earlier, still scheduling. You know, me time and family time is most important, but also like when you are at your desk.
Molly Block: Make that just about work and don't put things off to tomorrow if it can, if you can help it, because the longer you put it off, then you're gonna end up, which this is why I just kind of lost it last year. I put things off and I had three clients who were trying to launch things around the same time, and I had put off doing my parts, and so the week before Christmas,
Molly Block: Rushing to get all of their tasks [00:22:00] complete, stressing, missing out on things. It's just, It's easy to avoid if you realize that once you have the task just to start working on 'em and just don't keep pushing it off.
LaTara Dunn: right. Just stay on top of it. Yes, you know, sometimes it's really challenging when you wanna obsess about a design of something or you want your editing to be perfect, or you just wanna keep writing on that blog article. You kind of have to remind yourself like, look. This is a really crazy time. Work just needs to get done right now.
LaTara Dunn: It might not be my a plus work this month, but I'm gonna get everything handed in because once those, that holiday time and vacation co time comes, I want to be fully present with my family. You know, I only have so many of these magical moments left in my children's childhood to. Witness from them. And it's really [00:23:00] important to me to be able to just cherish that magic as long as possible. And I don't wanna be thinking in the back of my mind like, oh my gosh, I have these three projects that I didn't get done. So now every night when my kids are sleeping, I'm gonna be secretly working behind the scenes because I know that my clients are waiting on something. I don't wanna have that feeling at all.
Molly Block: No. No, I mean, it's gonna fly by, it's going to, and last year I remember. I decorate, I go balls to the wall for like every holiday. Well, I would say Halloween and Christmas,
Molly Block: but last like I didn't get a live tree until, I think a week before Christmas because every day I'm sitting at my desk like crying
Molly Block: because
LaTara Dunn: I.
Molly Block: because put everything off and my clients are like, where is this?
Molly Block: I have this launch coming.
Molly Block: and I'm like, oh my God. And I'm kicking myself. 'cause I [00:24:00] just kept, oh, I have time. You don't have time. If you
Molly Block: think
LaTara Dunn: don't.
Molly Block: you don't get that out of your head. You do not
LaTara Dunn: and I recommend asking your clients for stuff as soon as possible as well. So I had a client a couple weeks ago and she wanted to do an email campaign for the first six days of December. and it was for the sale that she's doing, and she was just telling me about it.
LaTara Dunn: She just notified me like, Hey, this is what's coming up. And that was it. She didn't gimme any information, no details, nothing. It was just like kind of brainstorming like what she wanted to do, which is fine, you know? That's how the conversation starts. However, I need this like done now because I can't be doing it when it's actually happening in real time. And I also have 15 other massive projects to get done, right? And your clients aren't gonna be thinking about what you need to do for your other clients. They don't give a shit about [00:25:00] that. They only care about their stuff and they don't know how busy you truly are. And so I said to her, I said, Hey, I need this stuff as soon as possible, please give me all of the information that you have so I can write these emails and get them set up for you because. I have a very busy couple weeks coming ahead and she was like, oh, okay. And so like I made it clear to her, what my expectations were and she totally understood it and was like, alright, great.
LaTara Dunn: And got me everything I needed. But if I didn't say that, that I probably would've gotten the stuff the day before and then I would've been stressed out.
Molly Block: I like that. Using your voice and it's okay to hold your client accountable. You know, it's all on how you say it, but holding them accountable to the fact that you do have other things going on. You have a personal life, you have other clients As you said, the truth of the matter is no matter how nice your client is, [00:26:00] they're not thinking nor do they care about your other clients and your other workload.
Molly Block: They just care about their stuff and totally understandable. So ask them, like, I've always been terrified of what I would consider confrontation, even if it's not confrontation. And it's funny, one of my clients this year really helped me . Find my voice with the kind of work that they do. And I definitely have noticed my workload isn't as crazy because I feel confident saying to my client, okay, you wanna do that?
Molly Block: This is great. I need the first part by x date, then I need the next part. By this date I'm gonna do this, you're gonna do that. And something I started doing with my clients, which has been really helpful, in Slack is when I complete a task, I use the green check mark and send it back to them. And then if I need something, whether I'm working on it or I need them to pay attention to it, or to be alerted [00:27:00] that I sent a message.
Molly Block: I'll use the siren symbol, and it's just, it's really helped, like those two simple things integrating into my slack conversations. As soon as you open slack, you, your eyes are drawn to it. So my clients easily see, oh, siren symbol. she needs my attention on this. And I haven't really had to. . Ask or be on top of my clients as much as I would've previously.
Molly Block: And again, it was just a really simple, two different emojis, but it has been a game changer.
LaTara Dunn: I actually love that you just said that because I have this one client, she actually does that. when I. . Write her a message in Slack. She To tell me that she's read my message but isn't ready to respond just yet 'cause she needs to get something or think about it or whatever. She sends me the little star sparkle emoji and then when it's like, yep, I've approved, I'm done.
LaTara Dunn: It's a little heart emoji for her and me. It's like a check mark [00:28:00] and and the eyeballs. And so I love that you say that because we do, just me and this one other, just only one of my clients does it. And I thought it was such a good idea when she suggested it. I'm like, oh my God, I love this
Molly Block: Yeah, I started doing it with one client and I actually showed another client and we started doing it and it has just been so helpful. So
Molly Block: can use any type of emoji or little hack that you want, but something as simple as that. grabs my attention and grabs the attention of the client when they first open.
Molly Block: 'cause I'm telling you, when I send messages in Slack, sometimes, especially if I have a lot of tasks, it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 messages and I don't want anything to get lost. And that way you get stuff ahead of time, you can prepare, you can plan, and the holidays are fun and exciting for you personally and business-wise, because you're not freaking stressed.
LaTara Dunn: let's [00:29:00] recap real quick. So we don't want you to be stressed. We want you to love the holidays. We want you to enjoy it because there's so much going on in your life, which your life comes first. Your life is a priority and you need to make it a priority, but to be able to do that. Without affecting your, your clients and your income, your pride, whatever it may be, you need to stay organized.
LaTara Dunn: You need to communicate. Set those boundaries, plan ahead, and don't put the work off, just stay on top of it because the time is going to fly so fast. And , by the time you're hearing this episode, Christmas is only gonna be a couple weeks away. And so that means you have less than a couple weeks.
LaTara Dunn: So you just need to stay on top of it and keep those firm boundaries. And if you're gonna be taking time off.. I highly recommend setting up those autoresponders and [00:30:00] signing out of your notif of your slack, of your, notifications, turning them off and keep your phone on do not disturb for all of Christmas.
LaTara Dunn: You know, like, just
LaTara Dunn: don't, and I mean, I have my phone on Do Not Disturb literally 24 7, but
Molly Block: Yes, you do.
LaTara Dunn: I always do, always. I love it so much. It's the best thing in the world and I'm absolutely will be having it on my entire Christmas vacation. And so, yeah, we just want you to enjoy this time because we learned the hard way last year, how chaotic the end of the year truly can be as a freelancer.
Molly Block: Yeah, we just don't want you being stressed and missing, missing the holidays. And there's, you know, hopefully these tips and tricks that we provided you today, well, you'll be able to, implement them. And save the holiday if you're feeling the stress already. And also, you [00:31:00] know, reflect on your own business and see what you know you liked about your business from this previous year and what you didn't like and change it in the next year.
Molly Block: And that's okay.
LaTara Dunn: All righty. Well, we hope you enjoy this one. Please take some time to relax and rejuvenate and we will talk to you next week.
Molly Block: All right. Bye.