random stories :: what has changed?

you know, it has been almost two weeks since i reached the glorious conclusion that something was wrong with my work routines and something really needed to {change}. i felt extremely tired and exhausted and if i was doing what i loved and somehow, the feeling that i may not be loving what i was doing that much, was starting to be around, then something was wrong. i did not have the time to do what i love, those things we love to do, no matter what those are. for me, for example, included taking pictures with no pressure whatsoever… talking walks without any rush… sitting on my couch and watching some tv… reading the blogs i followed and/or exploring new ones. because even if any of these tasks seem meaningless, they are not. they are not because i love to do all these things and on another point of view… these can make miracles to my inspiration, deeply needed in my work.

so i needed to change things around. even if i was and still am devoted to the development of my own business, and money is needed to every single living being in this world, work is just work. and if i left the consulting firm, because i was no longer feeling like i belonged there and their goals were not the same as mine, i was not doing things in the right way, because stress and anxiety were here in a much larger scale than needed. so i changed a few things… these things:

#1 i stop working by dinner time.
i am the cook around here, so i need to interrupt what i am doing to cook dinner. so now i just stop working, which means shutting down outlook and whatever work related task i am doing. after dinner, i am usually laying on the couch reading blogs, just for the pleasure of reading them.

#2 i am going to bed at the same time as mr twiggs.
though i was always a night owl and love to stay up late, let’s face it. it brings no health to sleep for 4-5h every night. at least for me it does not. even if i wake up feeling almost fine… at the end of two weeks doing that, there is no waking up fine… but lousy, not concentrating at all, tired and the lack of patience was evident.

#3 i have a morning routine.
i wake up early with mr kobe crying to be taken out. i get dressed, take him out and when i return, i start preparing breakfast for the family… which means, mr kobe, me and mr twiggs. we take our breakfast together sitting down, watching the morning news. sometimes, i drive him to work, so that i can have the car for some errands. this also means more time together! i just start working from then on, with my cup of coffee on my hand!

#4 i do not work on the weekends.
from friday night to monday morning, there is no work for me. i shut down outlook for two days. of course, i may need to work if i have some craft fair. other than that, i appreciate these two days, by being with mr twiggs, walking mr kobe together, going out for lunch, for a drink, or even being at home, reading blogs and finding new ones (i am having an enormous pleasure doing this lately!)

#5 i do not feel bad about any of these.
this one is as important as all the above. really! if you ever tried to change any of your routines, you know what this means. being a freelance means that you are on your own. and being on your own is sometimes a bit scary! you feel the pressure to work all the time, or else it feels that something bad will happen to you! and the guilt… oh the guilt we feel if we do nothing, or if we spend out time reading a book or watching a movie. it is incredible! and we do not have to feel guilty! we work as anyone else. and even if we freelance, that does not mean that we do not have the right to make our best for a good work-life balance! we need that as anyone else. so this is really important!

i know that these are just the beginning and maybe i will need to re-focus again in the future! but this was the most important decision i made in the last months. no more working 12 to 16h per day! i want to be happy with my choices, happy with my work… and happy with the life i am having. i believe in balance. i believe that we need to be strong, in order to sustain that balance, especially in this world of pressure to do everything right here, right now. i want to represent something else completely different! so these changes are rocking my world right now and i am happy about these! and now, time to cook some dinner! see you tomorrow!

ps. by the way, i am completely loving your answers on my survey! you are being so honest, that you are currently rocking my days! thank you so much for that! if you have not yet answered these, can you please take one single minute to do it? you can answer the survey {here}! thank you!

images: all these were taken today during morning and after lunch walks. i enjoyed this day… a lot!