One of the perks of being a freelancer is that you have more flexibility to add in little treats to your day. Often though, we run ourselves ragged when self-employed, and forget to pamper ourselves (which, in the long term, isn’t great for you or your business). In fact, I have a reminder that pops up on the first of the month with the question ‘what will you do this month that’s fun?’ to remind myself to book in something.

Here are just five ways you can add some treats into your freelance life:

Meet a client for afternoon tea

I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Rosie from One Man Band Accounting, but if you offer a premium consulting service, you could arrange to meet your client for afternoon tea.

Afternoontea.co.uk has some great deals on, including some for the Afternoon Tea Bus (which I reviewed over on The High Tea Cast last year).

In fact, try to think outside the box with all your meetings. Meet at a fun cafe you’ve been dying to try or even go for a walk if it’s a nice day.

Go for a spa day

Spa days are brilliant on two levels – they’re fantastic at winding down and refreshing your body and mind. But more importantly, YOU CAN’T TAKE YOUR MOBILE PHONE/TABLET/LAPTOP WITH YOU. Enforced technology turn off. Bliss.

Have a look on Wahanda for some great spa deals (my personal favourite spas are Nirvana Spa in Wokingham and, for a real treat, Ragdale Hall in Leicestershire)

Invest in really, really good tea and biscuits

If you’re working from home, don’t settle for own brand tea bags and basic biscuits. Your teabreak deserves better. I’ve just discovered you can sign up for a gourmet tea subscription too – marvellous.

Splurge on your freelancing uniform

When I’m working from home, I tend to wear a form of ‘freelancing uniform’ – often a comfy top I can smarten up with a necklace or funky jacket (for when I have to jump on a conference call) and usually a pair of lounge trousers or harem pants. So far, a lot of the items have been from Primark, but I’m starting to upgrade them to higher quality fabrics. I’m a huge fan of Next’s harem pants and have them in several colours, and Oasis has some beautiful kimono jackets which are great for throwing on over a vest top.

Essentially, invest in your wardrobe like you would if you worked in an office.

Outsource

If you read the blog regularly, you’ll know I’m a big fan of outsourcing stuff in your life. From your accounts to your cleaning, outsourcing the areas you don’t excel at is just good business sense. Often these luxuries aren’t as expensive as you’d think too – a cleaner can be from just £10 an hour, and a virtual assistant to offload some of the areas you’re not great in can start from £15-25 an hour (and they’ll usually get the job done much faster than you will). I’ve talked a little more about outsourcing in a previous podcast, but the best way to get started is to write down everything you have to do, then highlight the things you hate doing and put off. Those are the things to outsource so you can focus on the things that you rock at.

How do you treat yourself as a freelancer?