In Which I Contemplate Working Less

Oh hey, hi! Didn’t see you there, internet friend. See, I’ve been busy.

I hate saying that I’m busy. It’s such a cliche. “Oh, I’m so much busier than you are, therefore I must be more important.” Gag. But it’s the kind of busy that’s been going on for so long and so consistently that it starts to feel normal until I find myself on a plane for six glorious hours without wifi but then I suddenly realize that my brain is overflowing with stuff and instead of relaxing and reading a book I’m drafting three different projects and half a dozen emails from 36,000 feet on Thanksgiving morning. It’s as though everything in my head is shouting at me in ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME.

My busy-ness was also indelicately pointed out by The Assistant who was looking over my shoulder at my spreadsheet while I was prepping my month-end invoices.

“Is that what you charge your clients?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered. “Each entry is for a project or a portion of a project.”

“But there are 46 entries.”

“Yes.”

“And there are only 12 months in the year.”

“Yes.”

“Huh,” he said. “I mean, it looks like you’re doing really well this year, but you’ve been really busy.”

“I am, yes,” I said.

“But you don’t really have time to write for the Betty blog very often, even though it’s fun for you.”

“True,” I said.

“Well then, maybe next year you should do a little less well and have a little more fun.”

Why does this kid always nail it?

So as we enter December, I’m already giving 2015 some serious thought. How do I want to balance my life? What do I want my life — and work — to look like? And probably most importantly, how can I make all of it more fun? I have lots to think about.

Meanwhile, I hope you’re all having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S., or regular old weekend wherever else you may be.

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