Blogging And Giving Yourself Days Off!

I am writing this from under my duvet. Yes, I am dressed and I have makeup on, but I have now gone back to bed.
Today is my day off.
I’m really rubbish at giving myself a day off. I hate feeling like there are things I should be doing and instead of doing them I am lazing around and wasting time. I have a list of things I need to do that is almost overpowering me at the moment and today I have decided to do none of them. I’ve decided to give myself a day off.

Since I arrived in the alps it has been incredibly busy. Logistics and meetings and dinners and drinks – all loads of fun but I’m now completely shattered!

So, this morning, when the sun woke me up (because I don’t have blinds in my little flat yet) I got up, popped on a jumper and a pair of jeans and headed into the village. The main village is about a 15 minute walk downhill from where I am living so it is quite easy to pop on my sassy Sorel snow boots and wander down.
The buses start running for the season tomorrow too so that’ll make it easier again.
That is what is so funny about being here this early. The lifts open tomorrow….and so does everything else. All the shops have been closed, the bars and cafes shut, the buses not running etc since I arrived.  And now that the snow has fallen and the ski lifts are opening, it’s like this little town is opening its eyes, having a good stretch and waking up from hibernation!

I wandered in to the village, popped into the post office to check on some deliveries I am expecting (no sign yet…..damn the slow mountain postal system!) and then wandered about for a bit. I was about to start walking back when I noticed that the bakery was finally open!!

Obviously, I had no option. A Pain Au Chocolat had to be bought.

Heading back up the hill (which is a much longer, and much more knackering version of the way down!) with yummy chocolate pastry in my hands, I found myself writing lists in my head of all the things I need to do. I was getting to the point where I was going to get my phone out and start writing them all down so I wouldn’t forget anything when I turned a corner to the most stunning view of the mountainside. I really don’t think it will every get old, seeing these mountains! But it was like the world was saying “stop stressing and working and just look at where you are!” So that’s what I’m doing.

I finished my breakfast, got back, brewed a cup of tea and am now curling up for a bit of grey’s anatomy and christmas shopping! (The lifts aren’t open yet or I’d go and ski today – the weather is gorgeous!)

It is so important to give yourself space to recoup. Being self-employed can be the most fantastic thing in the world (I can work sitting in my pants with a spoon and a jar of peanut butter on my desk with no judgement!) but it also means you are completely self driven. You control when you work. Which means you control how much work you do. And if you can be working or thinking about work, you will be. Particularly if you really enjoy what you do – which I do.
I find it very very hard to distance my work and my personal life because my work is so personal to me – I love it.

I often find myself trying to turn off for an evening and popping onto my emails for a few minutes, only to find myself 4 hours later, still on the internet, sending emails to people about deadlines and brands etc. I love what I do, and it makes it very hard to shut off when I get ideas or thoughts.

Blogging is an industry which is with you all the time. Even if you aren’t physically writing, you are tweeting, posting on instagram, brainstorming ideas, taking photos etc…even when I sit down to watch a movie, I will have my phone to hand and will reply to tweets/emails etc. The blogging world never turns off. And that is one of the brilliant things about it, as well as one of the most difficult things about it.

So. Today is my day off. I’m going to do some Christmas shopping, I’m going to drink lots of tea, and I’m going to wear fluffy socks all day.
I might even order a new onesie (I’ve been meaning to since I arrived out here!) and maybe even one of Hannah Gale’s new sweatshirts (which I’m a little bit in love with!) and cook something yummy and warm to keep me cosy in my little flat. 🙂

Remember to give yourself time off sometimes – it is so good for you. Get your Netflix-fix, dance in your pants and stop taking the world so seriously! 🙂

R xxx