One of my friends Twittered Monday that should would have to work over 10 hours each day -- including Christmas -- for the rest of the month in order to make her billable hours quota for the year. Meanwhile, I'm typing as fast as I can to make my December freelancing commitments. I had planned to spend Christmas Eve sewing dress-up costumes for my boys and fancy potholders for my sisters, but now I'm wondering if I should spend the day typing instead.

It's the anti-holiday season for freelancers and professionals who must bill hours. While the rest of you are using up your vacation time and relaxing in the 10 days of few meetings and even fewer cars in the office parking lot between last weekend and January 1st, we're stocking up on coffee and chocolate to fuel late-night work marathons.

I won't complain -- I picked this lifestyle. But it's a cautionary tale for me next year (perhaps I should hire a nanny for the first two weeks of December?) and I'd love to hear if other freelancers have strategies on how to reduce your dependence on end-of-the-year catchup. How do you avoid the freelancing anti-holiday season?

I recently handed in my 401(k) and health insurance, along with my corporate laptop, for a taste of the freelance lifestyle. This weekend I spent several hours happily trolling the aisles of Wordstock, a local celebration of writers and books, frequented (naturally) by writers galore. I was chatting with a friend who runs a quarterly magazine, offering ideas for one of her upcoming issues, when another freelance writer walked up. He, too, had recently left a "regular" job for the on-again, off-again world of freelancing.

"How's it going?" he wanted to know. "Great," I said, a little surprised at the realization. "I have too much work."

"Me too!" he said happily. "I've heard that a lot."

While it's certainly sad for workers who are offered the door in exchange for cheaper, less permanent freelancers, it's all good for those of us who have chosen this life with some deliberation. (Note to self: Always make the jump before everyone else figures it out!) We're here to fill in the blanks suffered by managers who have been forced to lay off so many employees that their work can no longer be accomplished by a dwindled staff, and those smaller companies seeking to expand without a lot of messy commitment in the way of payroll and benefits packages.

So it's a word to the wise: if you've been wishing to make the leap to freelancing, and not having the gumption, maybe now's the time. With a liberal administration coming into office, maybe you'll even get some relief on the health insurance front... at least, it's worth dreaming.