Taking care of me

This is a public service announcement. To myself. Well, I guess that makes it a private service announcement...?

I think I've been doing too much in the past few months, especially in the last couple of months. Finishing my book, jumping straight back into work on &Stitches after our trip to Denmark, all the while also keeping the Polka & Bloom engines running.

The last 2-3 weeks I've been getting these weird spots on my arms, neck and my face (only a couple of small ones there, thankfully!), kinda like mosquito bites. At first I thought we might have picked up some very unwanted visitors from a hotel we stayed in while in Denmark - but if that were the case, why wasn't Tony getting any spots?

I haven't changed what I eat lately and I'm not allergic to anything...

But here's the funny thing: since Friday I've not had a single one. This weekend I've basically unplugged. Barely had my computer on, only briefly glanced at my email and only replied if it was Urgent!. And I've done very little work - normally, there isn't really a big difference between week days and the weekend for me - there's always work to be done, right? ;-) More fool me, because you can't just work-work-work.

What I have been doing over the weekend is reading a bit, doodling in my sketchbook, watching telly...

The break has been sooo good. The spots are gone so I can make a tentative conclusion that they were stress related. I also feel less scattered, it's like there's room in my brain again for new stuff, not just dealing with the bloody to-do list. And of course the lesson is: take breaks from time to time. Relax. Unwind.

I've got a deadline this week as well, so I'm going to work on that, but not much else. What a novelty to work on just one thing! ;-)

I think it's really easy to get sucked into a spiral of just working all the time when you're working for yourself. Especially when it's just you to do the work, because there's always something that needs doing. A new patterns to stitch, updates on your website, emails to reply to etc etc etc. Plus I'm not very good at saying no if people ask me for help with something - I like to help!

Not that I'm complaining or that I'd want to swap - but one advantage of working for The Man is that there are rules for when you take breaks etc. Maybe I need to make a job contract with myself.. ;-)

I hope you're takin' it easy! :-)

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