In my editing career, I can think of two clients who were local to me – and by that I mean in the same city. This was back when I first started out and was targeting my network to get a foot in the door. Since then, every client I’ve had has meant working across countries and regions and, critically, time zones. Add in the fact that I am a nomad and not always in the same time zone myself, and it can get complicated. I’ve learned a few tricks to manage things so I don’t miss a deadline. My clients appreciate it and stick around, so I don’t have the stress of finding new ones all the time and figuring out what time it is where they are. In fact, in most cases the time difference is beneficial to my clients. Read on to see how.
Full transparency
I’ve been open about being a nomad from the start. It was why I retrained and switched careers from environmental consulting to editing and proofreading: so that I could travel while I worked. So it’s not a secret that I move around often. And like when planning to go on holiday or to take some time off, I let my clients know when I’m going to be off on a nomad trip. Specifically, I let them know:
- where I’m going and how long I’m planning to be away from my home base for
- if the time difference will change substantially (i.e. more than an hour or two) compared to what it usually is
- my travel days, so they know I’ll be out of reach while on the move and perhaps the day after while I settle in
- when I’m planning to switch off the laptop and take time off.
I never have all the details before I go (especially for time off in-country). But as soon as I make any plans, I’ll be in touch. But that doesn’t mean sending a blanket email out to all my regular clients. That would just be annoying! It comes down to planning…
Planning ahead, and planning some more
This is easier for some than for others, in that not everyone is a planner. So what may be second-nature to me (and annoying to my friends at times!) could mean extra effort to get into the planning habit for you. But it’s worth getting to grips with it because it makes the work–life balance easier and cuts down on stress.
Wherever possible, I plan my nomad trips around big projects to avoid being away if possible. For example, a quarterly journal issue copyedit or a scheduled PhD thesis proofread. If I’m going to be away when those jobs are landing, I’ll plan some work time. This means finding a suitable workplace for a few days: a hotel or apartment, where I can work uninterrupted and to my own schedule.
For smaller jobs that take a couple of days or a few hours, I’ll make sure I can find somewhere with good WiFi. A library, cafe, coworking space, hotel lobby. Then there’s my transcript proofreading jobs, which I usually do over a morning coffee or afternoon tea and can do from anywhere.
Keeping your word
Letting clients know when you’re going to work or agreeing to a deadline is one thing. Keeping your word is another. And a critical one at that. No client is going to stick around for long if you consistently miss deadlines or disappear without a word for days on end. They’ll simply find someone else. It’s much easier to stick to what you said you’d do, no matter how tricky things may become, than to have to find and prove yourself to a new client.
My way of tackling this and making sure I stick to what I said I’d do is to
- build in extra time: better to under-promise and overdeliver than the other way around
- only ask for an extension if I’m dealing with an emergency
- have slack in my schedule to shift things around if a rush job from a regular client comes up
- prioritise paying jobs over fee proposals
- make the deadline time in my client’s time zone the deadline in mine. For example: 9 a.m. UK time could mean 12 p.m. where I am, but I’ll aim for 9 a.m. in my time zone, which gives me three hours’ buffer.
In most instances, if I plan it well, I end up with a few spare hours when I’m on the move. Bonus!
Clocks set to different time zones
Numbers are not my strength and I’ve been known to miss a bus connection because I’ve got my times wrong. (But that’s another story for another day.) So my laptop is set to two time zones: UK and US Eastern time. All my regular clients will either fall into those two or be a couple of hours either side, making it easier to plan. And to keep track of what time it is where.
The benefits of time zone differences
The most common benefit is that clients can send me an urgent job before they leave the office and I can have it back by the time they return in the morning. There’s not many jobs with such a tight turnaround, but it does happen and I know my clients appreciate it. More typically, time zones mean I return an edited document to clients in the morning (their time) on deadline day, making it easier for them to plan their day. Or they will send me a document on a Friday afternoon and, if I’m working over the weekend, have it back by Monday.
They also know that I am (and have to be!) organised if I’m going to fit in both work and travel. But my favourite benefit? They enjoy following my travels. Plenty of client emails end with “Loved your latest reel” or “Where are you off to next?” It strengthens our working relationship and I’m privileged to call many of them friends as well.
Christina Petrides is a proofreader and copyeditor who works with businesses, publishers, academics, and court reporters. She works across most industries and has a particular love for the environmental and travel sectors. She is an Advanced Professional Member of the CIEP and Affiliate Member of the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES). Connect with her on LinkedIn.
