It’s time to change – my hours!

Todays blog is from Clare Haynes from Wildfire who talks about the importance of taking time out to focus on you. You can connect with Clare via Linkedin, Instagram or Facebook You can read all the other blogs by searching for #AdventBlogs, but now, over to Clare.

From a young age I felt at home at work, it being so much more straightforward than school. I was usually the person staying longer in the restaurant, then bar, then office. 

Now, I want to take more footsteps than tapping on my keyboard. I love my work, but I want to love outside of work more.

Aiming for a four-day week: Sounds simple, feels complex. I don’t want to do less but to condense the hours, not cut them.

As a night owl, I focus when everyone else is asleep and at 1am I’m creative and concentrating, seeking satisfaction in finishing something off. 

But I want to be strong and flexible … physically, mentally, and in my routine. In my mid-50s, with less energy to go round, I want to celebrate more than I slog.

And when you’re your own boss, there’s no clocking off. You live your business, not really clocking off Fridays, at 5.30 or on holiday flights.

Working in a pub, calling  ‘Time’ signalled the end of a shift. This year I’m calling time on my work structure. Big shift!

The plan is FREE Fridays. (If I took Mondays off, I’d just feel behind already!)  And no filling them with chores, otherwise it’s just a different kind of workday.

No one at your funeral will talk about your zero inbox (for the record, I don’t have one — I just use search). It’s about new habits, and flexibility for fun. 

Every December and early January, I pause client delivery for business planning.  This time it’s an overhaul, with already a long list after being off my feet for months with a ruptured Achilles.

‘I want can’t have’ … says who?! I want more time with friends, longer sleeps, fewer alarms, longer daylight walks and more evenings that don’t end with ‘I’ll go to bed when…’

And as I learn how to automate the things that don’t light me up, I want the sparks to ignite my passions, fuel my inspiration and elicit excitement, but without going up in flames.

I’m creating an energy ecosystem but not convinced how. Yet.…

Simple. Not easy.  I’d love the advice of others who’ve called time on longer hours and made it stick. 

This festive season, it’s goodwill to me, my oxygen mask on first, it’s time to change.

One day, maybe I’ll write ‘From an older age, I felt at home not working’.