The end of 2014 (and with it, the holiday season) is upon us—and that means many of you are reading this from your smartphone while interminably waiting in an airport. When you’re traveling, battling angry hordes, or arguing with your cousins, this time of year can be stressful! But it’s also a great time to be a freelancer, especially. Check out our top ten reasons why freelancing may have made your holiday season a little bit easier … and a lot more fun.

1. Flexible schedule means that you have the freedom to nurse keen champagne hangover on January 2nd.

2. Ever-evolving work responsibilities gave you convenient excuse to avoid your mother’s when are you going to settle down and give me a grandkid? talk. “Oops, Ma, sorry, my client desperately needs this presentation drafted… yep, and on Christmas Eve, too.”

3. Obligatory “office party” involved you, Netflix, pizza, and your couch.

4. “Freelancer” had vaguely cool ring to it when running into high school acquaintance at home town supermarket. If only you weren’t wearing your brother’s moth-eaten sweatshirt while juggling two pints of melting Chunky Monkey and an US Weekly…

5. Holiday meals provided much-needed break from typical freelance diet of takeout and peanut butter licked off of single spoon. A real plate? What is this, Buckingham Palace?

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6. Lighting Hanukkah candles provided one with opportunity to make awesome joke about experience “putting out fires” in work life (okay, only your dad laughed—and he was just being polite).

7. Lax dress codes in your workplace allowed you to augment pajamas with Santa hat, reindeer ears, spilled eggnogs.

8. Panic about impulse shopping’s effect on finances leads to remarkably efficient invoicing.

9. Clients are often not working very hard, and thus don’t seem to care much if you are working very hard, which leads to… relaxed deadlines.

10. Holiday with extended family results in extreme joy to get back to work.

Happy holidays, all, and a happy new year!

Kate Hamill lives and works in New York City, where she consumes an inordinate amount of Sriracha daily. You can catch up with her on Twitter at @katerone.