Take a break!

Being freelance can sometimes be lonely. You don't have the contact with others that you would have if you were employed in an office (in some cases that can be a good thing :-) ), you sometimes don't even get outside during daylight hours and even Facebook can be lonely if none of your friends are online (although it's an indispensable and addictive lifeline when they are). I only work part time, having a 3 year old at home, but with nursery closed and lots of deadlines I've been shut off from the outside world for what seems like forever!

So yesterday I tentatively took up one of my new years resolutions and headed to the gym for an hour before starting work - and realised only visiting 3 times in 2 months has really affected my fitness levels! Feeling a little braver this morning I took the plunge and ventured to the local toddler group to reconnect with people I haven't seen for weeks and give allow my 3 year old to run around (in the hope that he sleeps through tonight - still not luck on that front). Having had that break, and a chance to talk to actual people (rather than by email and instant message), I was able to concentrate on the tasks in hand this afternoon and I was a much calmer mummy.

It's made me realise that I need to add a few new years resolutions to my list - to make a few more coffee mornings with local mums, chat when I do the nursery pick up, make my local SfEP meetings (I made one last year) as meeting up with other freelance editors and proofreaders is always beneficial and most importantly to take a break every so often (with or without the chocolate bar!).