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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is that everybody needs at least some time off work.

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Speaker 1: So if you don't get paid time off, schedule unpaid

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Speaker 1: time off, it is not realistic to plan to work

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Speaker 1: every single weekday of the entire year, and it is

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Speaker 1: usually not realistic to make up all the work you

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Speaker 1: would have done on a workday you're off by squeezing

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Speaker 1: it into the cracks of an already busy schedule. So

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Speaker 1: plan some PTO, even if it is uto for you.

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Speaker 1: So I have long been fascinated by the concept of

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Speaker 1: paid time off, as it has never been a part

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Speaker 1: of my life. I have been self employed since my

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Speaker 1: early twenties, and I have always earned money based on

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Speaker 1: what I produce, not based on a negotiated long term

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Speaker 1: salary where I accrue a certain amount of paid time

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Speaker 1: off per year. So you can imagine that the general

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Speaker 1: incentive is not to take time off or since that

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Speaker 1: is not actually possible, to take it off, but not

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Speaker 1: plan for it to be off, which makes life feel haired. So,

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Speaker 1: after two plus decades of self employment, I have realized

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Speaker 1: that I need to schedule unpaid time off just as

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Speaker 1: someone else might plan paid time off. My life goes

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Speaker 1: more smoothly. Travel and holidays are more enjoyable if I

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Speaker 1: plan days off in advance. For me, planning days off

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Speaker 1: doesn't involve submitting paperwork to a boss or tracking how

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Speaker 1: much PTO I've used. But I do need to get

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Speaker 1: my days off on the calendar, so I don't schedule

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Speaker 1: appointments for those times or take on so much work

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Speaker 1: that I can't take time away from my desk. I

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Speaker 1: also need to be sure that I am earning enough

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Speaker 1: to meet my income goals for the year based on

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Speaker 1: the amount of time that I am actually working. If

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Speaker 1: you are self employed or an hourly or temp worker

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Speaker 1: with no PTO benefits, or if you don't get PTO

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Speaker 1: for some other reason, you likewise still need time off.

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Speaker 1: Some of the need for time off can't be predicted,

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Speaker 1: like having a sick kid, being sick yourself, or experiencing

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Speaker 1: a family emergency. But you can predict some time away,

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Speaker 1: like around the holidays, or time you'll be out of town,

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Speaker 1: or time you have a major family commitment like a

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Speaker 1: child's graduation. You can also predict some time ranges when

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Speaker 1: you'll just want to be off, maybe an afternoon for

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Speaker 1: back to school shopping or a day of relaxation holiday

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Speaker 1: house guests leave. So get those days you can anticipate

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Speaker 1: on your work calendar, just as you would if you

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Speaker 1: had PTO. Don't schedule commitments for those times, and cancel

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Speaker 1: any recurring appointments for those days. If you use calendly

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Speaker 1: or another tool that lets people schedule with you directly,

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Speaker 1: mark your unpaid time off as unavailable. Don't plan to

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Speaker 1: accomplish work on those days, and don't take on a

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Speaker 1: volume of work that would require your availability on those days.

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Speaker 1: You want to make sure that your workflow can accommodate

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Speaker 1: your unpaid time off. Relatedly, if you are projecting your

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Speaker 1: self employment income, don't budget for being paid to work

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Speaker 1: forty hours a week fifty two weeks a year. That

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Speaker 1: is just not realistic. Instead, a freelancer working the equivalent

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Speaker 1: of full time might estimate they would work twenty five

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Speaker 1: billable hours per week for forty five weeks per year.

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Speaker 1: That will leave time for unbillable tasks and also for

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Speaker 1: ample time off. Nobody wants to work for a boss

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Speaker 1: or an organization that is stingy with PTO. So if

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Speaker 1: you are your own boss, don't be stingy, grouchy, or

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Speaker 1: unrealistic about unpaid time off. Either, recognize that you will

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Speaker 1: need time off and schedule what you can anticipate in

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Speaker 1: advance that will set you up for a more sustainable

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Speaker 1: and fulfilling workload in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.