There won’t be any emails from me for a while

A client told me to take a break, so I am 💃

Lovely people, there won’t be any emails from me for a while.

Not because I don’t have things to say. I always do.

But because I’m taking four weeks off. No client calls, even if that initially made me feel guilty to not be available. No “oh I don’t mind writing a few blog posts anyway” off.

Actually off.

It was a client who made me realise I should do it.

See I’m not burnt out. I’m not falling apart. I’m not recovering from some crisis.
I’m not even that tired.

I could easily keep working.

But I know that we work better when rested. And I don’t want to wait until I’m tired to take that break.

Disclaimer coming in

Even though I know how important rest is, I find it hard to take time off from coaching.

Especially as someone self-employed, it’s hard to create a true period of time when I can be unavailable. There’s no-one to delegate to.

There’s always work to do. Work I enjoy. And taking time off means more to do when I come back.

And it doesn’t seem like a big deal to “send that blog post that I’ve basically already written in my head” and “to take just one 1 hour call”.

It ironically takes effort when we’re on a break to say “no I’m not going to engage with those thoughts about work”.

It feels easier to work than rest 😂

Our brain tells us we won’t enjoy the rest if there’s work to do, so we may as well tick things off the to-do list.

Rest is never the priority.

Until it’s too late and our brain’s go "um I’m tired, I’m not going to work anymore” (hands up who’s been there 🙋‍♀️).

We have to choose rest

We have to decide it’s the priority, even when it feels hard initially. Even when it’s not the priority.

Because (deep point incoming) - literally what is the point in life otherwise?!

I’m a big believer in enjoying life. I want to enjoy my job, but I don’t want my life to only be work.

They say “no one on their death bed ever looks back and wished they worked more”.

And so if enjoying more of life is what I want, I’m the only one who can make that happen. I have to choose to work less. To prioritise fun.

So when a client said “btw I hope you’re taking time off too over summer" - I thought - hell why don’t I have a whole month off?!

And boom, here we are

I’ll do some EFT and deep meditations to help my brain switch to “I’m not working” mode.

Because it might be hard at 7pm on Tuesday, when I normally sit down to write blog emails like this, to not check my emails and instead pick up a book.

But I know the rest is worth it.

I’ve got an optimistic number of books lined up to read (note to self: it’s not a competition), a holiday with my family, day trips planned.

I’m going to go for walks in the sun, on my own when my kids are in childcare, and I’m just going to enjoy it (I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS).

My favourite local walk, just 3 minutes from my house.

So lovely people, have a wonderful August

I hope you too are taking a break.

And if you find it hard to take a break without thinking about work, without counting down the days until you return to work, and without feeling guilty you should be doing more, maybe we should talk.

I have just one spot left for Sept-Nov coaching with calls 10am-2pm on Wednesdays. Book a free call in the first week of September to see if my coaching is for you and I’ll take £100 off the total price.

Book a free call here

Get more info on coaching here

And for now, ask yourself what matters more: getting ahead at work, or learning to enjoy life EVEN when there’s a big to-do list?

With love,

Lucy x

PS. members of MOMENTUM - I’ll be replying to comments in the last week of Becoming Decisive this week, after that I’ll respond in September 😊 And as much as I love my mini-programmes, you can be sure I won’t be thinking about it in between xx