I'm like Nike, I just do it.
Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
91–100 of 126 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
#92You don't sound self employed, you sound employed by them.
Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
#93Don't forget you work to live, you don't live to work. Even if you love your work, you don't love it every moment of the day. Sure, if you're close to a breakthrough invention to cure cancer, or have to race the competition to the first patent, and this urgency is credible and has a likely and credible high-payout in the end, you can crunch for a finite amount of time. But just churning out one project after the othe…
> Don't forget you work to live, you don't live to work.
A variation that I first heard from Lori Edwards: "The people you really work for are waiting for you at home."
Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
#94Wow dude, if you've only got one client that you can't lose and they are slave driving you then you are worse off than employed as everyone says.
Sounds like the client sucks if you can't slow down or stop or control anything, dump them or start saying No. If you are going to lose out to the competition by saying No, then it sounds like you aren't providing any real value, you are just cheap labour that is replaceable and are getting paid poorly and incorrectly for it.
The point of being self employed is so you can do whatever you want and own your life. If you get good clients then you can get paid more, they can't afford to lose you or easily switch because of the value you provide and are willing to work with someone who has reasonable human needs. You can take projects without hard fixed deadlines or with vacation time booked in and get paid on the project, not by the hour or even day. If you provide real value, they'll want you back for the next thing.
Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
#95I did quite few things:
1. Getting better at work. I do things x10 faster and better than when I started. That releases me of spending more hour. 2. Be pragmatic with the solutions. 3. I don't accept any job that is not well defined. 4. I do allocate time for me: gym, bycicle, etc.
Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
#96A self employed person generally has multiple clients, can control their hours and tools, and so on. Those self employed people who do work constantly will generally have high enough rates they can take time off.
You’re not self employed in that sense. You’re quasi employed, but without any of the protections of being an employee.
The only positive thing you said about this arrangement is you had downtime. But now you’ve lost that, and work more hours, and yet are still not earning enough to take time off.
Why, exactly, are you doing this? You only have one life. There must be alternatives.
Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
#97I never understood people who are that obsessed with work and money. When I was self employed I'd only work when I needed money, which didn't amount to much time at all. I am at the other end of the spectrum. Unless I'm working on something I'm truly interested in or need the money, I find it hard to justify taking work over vacations.
Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
#98Wow dude, if you've only got one client that you can't lose and they are slave driving you then you are worse off than employed as everyone says. Sounds like the client sucks if you can't slow down or stop or control anything, dump them or start saying No. If you are going to lose out to the competition by saying No, then it sounds like you aren't providing any real value, you are just cheap labour that is replaceabl…
I agree. It sounds very much like an employment relationship - the fact that you can't/don't feel able to choose your own projects is a big red flag here.
If this were a standard situation within Europe/the EU, I'm confident you would be entitled to claim the rights of employment, including e.g. paid holiday. It's possible that this right would extend to a Chinese employer, although I'm not sure.
If you are genuinely self-employed, you should also have the freedom to employ other people to cover your work.
Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
#99I never understood people who are that obsessed with work and money. When I was self employed I'd only work when I needed money, which didn't amount to much time at all. I am at the other end of the spectrum. Unless I'm working on something I'm truly interested in or need the money, I find it hard to justify taking work over vacations.
I’m not sure about OP, but for me it’s mostly about risk tolerance. As your income source is much less stable, and you are exposed to much more risk if you have health problems, it means you need to do much more careful financial planning. Naturally, this implies building a decent savings account, and it also means it’s more difficult to take time off (“if I know for sure I have a client right now, wouldn’t it make sense to wait with vacation until it dries up?”).
Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?
#100I'll take a contrarian view: don't take time off. You need to change your mind set as to what you think is valuable. Having traveled, study abroad and at home, I find the whole idea of time off to be utterly ridiculous. Live is meaningless. Therefore just work. It provides mental stimulation. It keeps you from having idle hands. Ultimately its as equally valid an exercise as vacation.
If your spouse and kids wish to vacation, send them on their way. Given your information above, they should have ample funds to fritter away their useless time. To each their own. If you travel with them, great. Have a nice dinner and perhaps go dancing after your long day.