Hi ,
No long article today, but instead I have a musing just for you, my dear subscribers.
It has been so lovely writing to you this year. Each and every one of you I know by name, and I think carefully about what I write because of you, so thank you for being the first set of eyes on my sometimes vulnerable work.
All weekend I've been trying to figure out how I would manage to write an article today. We had amazing friends staying over this weekend, and as it happens they'll be here until noon today which overlaps with my typical writing time. Usually I would schedule in "make up" time for that article, and I would have gotten it ready ahead. But, you know, I'm just not into it right now.
Rushing, I mean.
This is another time I'm going to break conventional wisdom. Be consistent, "they" say. Your readers will forget about you if you don't publish every week, "they" say.
But here's the thing...I actually don't believe that we should have to overwork just to take time off. I don't believe that it should take weeks to prepare your work so you can take time off, and I don't believe you should spend a week catching up when you get back. As much as possible, taking time off should be a seamless transition. (I'm not talking about packing...oh boy, if anyone
knows how to make that better let me know!)
And yet, here I've been trying for months to prepare enough articles ahead of time to schedule for while I am away. Every time I got ahead, I'd use it up for one reason or another. Now I'm seeing the lesson in it.
There's a reason I don't use a scheduling app for social media. I don't pre-schedule these emails. I do pre-schedule Medium articles on their site, but that's just because I write them Monday and publish them Tuesday at a specific time for my mastermind. Call me crazy, but I like to know that when I hit send on this email, you know I was right here writing it. It keeps it
human.
All that to say, I'm trying something new. I'm not going to be consistent. I'm going to take a vacation. You won't hear from me again until the middle of August. I hope you'll still remember who I am when I get back (see how ridiculous that sounds?! "They" really need to think harder about what they say).
The hardest things for me is knowing I won't hit my goal of writing 50 articles this year. I had planned on taking 2 weeks off, which in retrospect sounds insane. I want waaaaay more than 2 weeks of vacation this year! So I'll be revising that goal, and celebrating all that I've accomplished by writing 30 articles so far, and re-learning the value of taking breaks.
Now everyone is waking up, so I'm off to enjoy the luxury of new voices in my home on a Monday morning. One of our friends bought an ostrich egg at the local market and we have the second half of it to eat this morning!
Have a lovely few weeks, and I'll be back writing again soon.
You've got this,
Stephanie
Your Business Guide