Off a Cliff!

I’m not sure what’s going on at the moment, but my workload has gone from all-out chaos to literally nothing in the space of a week. I haven’t got a single job lined up until the 14th of October, and haven’t done anything since Friday 4th. I’m not complaining about the enforced time-out - god only knows I need a break - but when this happens it’s definitely a shock to the system. The mind and body get used to the routine of rising at 5.30, dropping the nippers off, then heading out for the day to graft and then sitting in front of a Mac to process the days’ imagery. A change to the routine takes a while to process, and I find myself in psychological purgatory for the time being. The weather is absolutely awful, so I can’t even get out and about. What to do?

First, I sorted out my gear cupboard. There is so much stuff that I’ll never use again, so it was a useful exercise to lighten the load and maybe raise some cash.

Next, I updated the website, and blog, and cleaned up my passwords on iCloud to get rid of the risks from those data leaks and whatever else it suggests.

Then I just relaxed for once. After taking the kids to school, I got back home, hopped into bed fully clothed, and had an hour’s nap. Oh, my word - what a luxury….. No kids, no music, no arguments - just silence and restorative sleep.

Tomorrow is my kit sale day, so it’ll be packing and post-office visits etc. I’m sure the emails will begin piling in again shortly. I’ve successfully offloaded all of my “south of Tyne” work now, so it’s Newcastle and Northumberland only. Transferring the more-distant jobs to my colleague James has meant a revenue-reduction of around £25K a year, but if it means a better balance it’ll be worth it in the long run.

Let’s see how it goes?