Wow, I had no idea blogging the words ‘going off the grid’ would provoke such a flurry of concerned emails and phone messages.
Thank you to those of you who understood and allowed me some space to breathe.
I’m fine, really. I just needed time to regroup after an exceptionally busy couple of months with new clients and new projects, a trip to Dubai and last weekend’s mammoth 3rd Australian Food Bloggers Conference weekend that I helped to organise.
One thing about being a consultant/freelancer is that you’re never really off-duty. I work odd hours of the day and night, seven days a week. And I actually don’t mind it because I love my work. I’m so incredibly grateful that I have a job that I love that I can do flexibly from home.
Unfortunately, the downside to the consulting/freelance life is that you are constantly in danger of overdoing it and putting yourself last as you say yes to all the opportunities and requests that come your way.
This type of pace is fantastic for short-term growth, but untenable in the long-run. So ‘going off the grid’ was my way of saying ‘Woah. Time out.’
And I’m glad I did it. I played with my kids, pottered around the house, went to bed early, and got a massage.
Similarly, I’m also happy that I’ve started saying ‘no’ to things. Well, actually, I’ve always said no to 95% of the pitches and advertising proposals that landed in my inbox. But now I’ve started saying no to invitations, opportunities and requests I would have said yes to three months ago. Because each request requires time and work on my part and there are only so many hours in the day. So I’m learning to prioritise. This feels good, too.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I’ll be back to my normal blog programming with my next post. I have lots of great recipes, photographs and stories to share with you!
