Sep 3, 2025 •8 min read

How Not to Overwork During the Holidays: Tips for Freelancers

Holidays are usually associated with relaxation, but for freelancers, it's often the opposite: instead of gatherings and holiday cheer, there are urgent deadlines and last-minute revisions.

We've gathered simple and effective tips to help you maintain balance, keep your clients happy, and truly enjoy your downtime.

Freelancing Without Weekends: Where Overloads Come From

While employed workers can shut their laptops and celebrate, freelancers often remain connected even during holidays. Days meant for rest and refreshment can turn into more deadlines instead. There are several reasons for this.

Cause of Overload	How It Manifests	Where It Leads
No boundaries between work and relaxation	Working 'a little bit more' even at night or during holiday meals	Fatigue, feeling that there's no holiday
Client pressure	Urgent messages, demands for 'right now'	Working in crisis mode
Fear of losing income	Taking on every single order	Lower work quality
Guilt for resting	Thoughts that 'I should be productive'	Emotional burnout
Illusion of easy tasks	Thinking 'I'll do this in 10 minutes,' but it takes 2-3 hours	Lack of time for rest and family

How to Combine Work and Relaxation During the Holidays

The risk of overworking during the holidays is high. However, there are some tools and small habits that allow freelancers to maintain boundaries and genuinely recharge.

Establish Your Holiday Work Norm

One of the biggest mistakes freelancers make during holidays is going with the flow. One day you take on one task, the next three, and before you know it, you're working a full schedule. To avoid this, it's important to set your personal 'work norm' for the holidays in advance.

What does this mean?

A norm is a personal limit you set for yourself: how many hours per day or tasks per week you are willing to do without sacrificing relaxation.

This could be time-based: for example, 'no more than 3 hours a day' or 'work only until lunch.'
It could be task-based: 'take on a maximum of two small projects a week' or 'finish no more than three tasks a day.'
You can combine both approaches — for instance, 4-5 hours a day and only one big task.

Having a defined limit helps you understand where work ends and time off begins. This decreases feelings of guilt and eliminates the pressure to get everything done.

How to determine your norm:

Look at your project list and decide which are truly critical to complete during the holidays.
Consider how much time you want to leave for relaxation, gatherings, and Christmas activities.
Set an honest balance: for example, you finish work 2 hours earlier on holidays and spend time with your family.

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Write down your norm in a note or calendar and keep it in sight. This makes it easier to beat temptation to take on 'just one more small task.'

Plan Ahead and Prioritize

Starting tasks in the middle of the holidays almost always turns chaotic: clients remind you of deadlines, friends invite you out, and you end up neither truly relaxing nor working effectively. It's much more efficient to plan ahead and honestly prioritize your tasks.

Here are some tips to help set priorities and not drown in tasks:

1) Make a holiday to-do list. Write down all projects and tasks that might come up during this period.

2) Divide projects into categories:

Urgent — deadlines that can't be moved.
Good to complete — things that would be nice to do but aren't critical.
Not urgent — tasks that can wait until the next year.

3) Complete major projects before the holidays. The fewer pending tasks you have, the more peaceful your holidays will be.

4) Leave only easy tasks for the holidays. Such as drafting a post, answering emails, or preparing a draft.

Prioritizing helps you avoid overloading yourself and not waste time on trivial things when you could truly unwind. Clients will also find it easier to understand why some tasks are done immediately and others after the holidays.

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Try planning both work and rest. For example: Tuesday evening — only movies, Saturday — a day without a laptop. This technique helps to maintain balance and prevents the feeling that the holiday is slipping away.

Set Boundaries with Clients

One of the most common reasons for overworking during the holidays is clients who are always available and expect the same from you. But the reality is, you set the rules of interaction. If you establish your boundaries upfront, many crisis situations can be avoided.

Here's what to do:

Inform them about your schedule in advance. Two weeks before Christmas, send a short email or message: "During the holidays, I will work and respond to emails only until noon. Taking on any new projects in January."
Use autoresponders. Set up your email or messenger so clients immediately see that your response times during the holidays are slower or occur within specific hours.
Define timelines and costs clearly. If you're willing to work on weekends or holidays, clarify that these tasks will be priced higher or take longer. This is fair and helps avoid misunderstandings.
Don't apologize for taking a break. Rest is as much a part of work as a deadline. The calmer you communicate your terms, the more respectfully clients will accept them.

Setting boundaries helps you avoid working 24/7 and shows clients that you're a professional, not someone available at their beck and call. A clear schedule makes collaboration more comfortable for both parties.

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Save a polite response template for when clients contact you at an inconvenient time. This saves energy from having to explain time and again.

Sample Response Template:

Thank you for your message! I've finished work for today and will respond by 2 PM tomorrow. If it's urgent, please let me know, and I'll see what I can do.

Create a Holiday Transition Ritual

The biggest trap in freelancing is the lack of differentiation between work and downtime. Your brain needs clear signals: here the workday ends, and the holiday begins. Simple transition rituals can help.

Examples of rituals:

To start work in the morning: Spend 10 minutes planning with a cup of coffee, play a favorite playlist, or light a candle on your desk.
To end work in the evening: Close your laptop and put it out of sight, take a short walk, switch to a Christmas movie, or call your extended family.
For a festive mood: Wear non-working clothes (pajamas or a cozy sweater), turn on fairy lights, or play music that you associate with holidays.

These simple actions help your brain switch modes and prevent work thoughts from intruding on your holiday table. This lowers stress levels and creates the feeling that the holiday has truly arrived.

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A great way to transition is by adding playful activities. Playing Secret Santa, for example, is a fun way to exchange gifts and add some lightness to the holidays.

To save time and conserve energy for relaxation, you can entrust the game organization to MySanta app. It automatically matches players, suggests gift ideas, and enhances the festive spirit.

Here's what else the service offers:

add exclusions during the draw
anonymous chat with the recipient
create a wishlist and see what the recipient dreams of
transparent game progress for the organizer.

Try our MySanta app

You can create wishlists, add exclusions, and communicate with your gifree secretly. Moreover, there is an option to track gifts and ensure that everyone buys a present on time.

Start

Simplify Time Management

During the holidays, strict schedules often fail: plans change, unexpected meetings or guests appear. That's why relying on simple, flexible time management techniques is crucial. They help maintain focus and avoid overworking.

What really works:

Pomodoro Technique. Work in short intervals: 25 minutes of work, 5 minutes of rest. After four cycles, take a 20–30 minute break. Why it helps: you don't get tired and can easily slip into the working mode.
The Three Tasks Rule. Set only three main tasks for the day: one big and two small. Everything else is a bonus. Why it helps: priorities are clear, and your to-do list doesn't look overwhelming.
'Stop-Work' Alarm. Pre-set a time when your workday ends, like 4 PM. Your phone will remind you to close your laptop. Why it helps: establishes a clear boundary and prevents working until night.
A 10-minute Rule. If you're reluctant to start a task, tell yourself "I'll just work for 10 minutes." Often that's enough to get into the flow and finish. Why it helps: reduces resistance and saves time on procrastination.

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Choose just one or two methods and use them consistently. This way, they become a habit, not an additional system that exhausts you.

Automate

Freelancers often try to do everything themselves—from client communication to document handling. But during the holidays, it's especially important to offload. Automation helps reduce routine tasks, leaving more time for relaxation.

What can be automated:

Social media. Use post planners like Creator Studio, Buffer, or Hootsuite to schedule posts in advance.
Email. Set up autoresponders and email templates to handle recurring inquiries automatically.
Finances. Enable bill reminders and automatic payments to avoid distractions with minor tasks.
Tasks. Use trackers instead of endless paper notes. Efficiently manage task lists through Trello, Notion, or ClickUp.

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Dedicate one evening before the holidays to setting up this 'autopilot' — posts, emails, payments. This will save several hours every holiday day.

Take Care of Your Body and Mind

Freelancing is often perceived as 'head work,' but during the holidays, it's crucial to remember your body. If you don't give yourself breaks, your body quickly shifts into stress mode, affecting productivity.

What to include in your routine:

Move. Even short 15-20 minute walks relieve tension and reset the mind.
Hydration and nutrition. During the holidays, it's easy to overeat or forget to eat if you're engrossed in a task. Strive to maintain balance.
Micro-breaks. Stand up, stretch, take a breathing session every 1-2 hours.
Sleep. Don't sacrifice your sleep for last-minute revisions — the effects on productivity will outweigh the benefits of meeting deadlines.

When you care for your body, anxiety and fatigue decrease. Being kind to your psyche helps you not feel guilty for resting, seeing it as part of your work instead of wasting time.

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Adopt a simple rule — each day on holidays should include at least one physical activity (walk, exercise, dance) and one for the soul (book, movie, catch up with loved ones).

Use Christmas for Inspiration

Holidays are not only a time to celebrate – they can also inspire for something new. Inspiration often arrives when you switch from work to socializing, creativity, or quality family time.

New experiences. Visiting relatives, a city stroll, or even watching a movie with family can spark fresh project ideas.
Freed attention. Without deadline pressure, your brain generates unconventional solutions.
Creative energy. Interaction, music, podcasts, books, or even just loafing around can fuel future projects.

Conclusion

Freelancing during the Christmas holidays can be a time for reenergizing if approached mindfully. Incorporating even one simple practice—setting work norms, establishing client boundaries, or planning downtime helps maintain a healthy balance between tasks and downtime, ensuring a long, successful freelance career.

Author:

Hazel Matthews

Author and editor of MySanta blog. Hazel shares tips and secrets of playing Secret Santa in person and online, and explains how to choose a perfect Christmas gift.