Last week I did something scary. I left a job that I loved after 8 years for something different - a fresh challenge. From what I hear, it's pretty common for people to take some time off work between jobs by using up remaining annual leave or taking some time unpaid. I'm no exception here; I'm currently half-way through my self-proclaimed "micro-sabbatical" of 10 whole days, and it's brutal.
During my notice period, I built up a list of things I wanted to get done during this week-and-a-bit. Like all good software projects, this list is a backlog of musts/shoulds/coulds. I "must" make a plan for Mothers' day, I "could" fix the under-counter lights in the kitchen. My wife and I are blessed with a bouncy two year old (Reuben), and we blessed ourselves almost 7 years ago by getting a dog (Toby). Though very much self-inflicted, these dependents meant my free time was suddenly at a premium.
I'm sure you don't have much sympathy for this situation (I don't either - stop whining, Owen); I've loved taking Reuben and Toby on adventures this week, but I took me less than half a day into my micro-sabbatical to realise this list isn't going to get done. After 8 years of deadlines where time is king, I felt myself wanting to update someone on my progress to manage their expectations. I was half an hour late picking up my wife from work on Monday for the simple reason that I just wanted to have a cup of tea that I hadn't given myself chance to have yet. Yesterday, after a morning of manual labour in the garden, my hairdresser said I looked shattered and prescribed me a nap when I got home. Did I take a nap? Don't be stupid. I hope no-one from my new work is reading this, but I'm arguably working harder than I was last week when I was getting paid for it.
There's a difference between "free time" and "alone time", and this has become a chasm since having kids. My wife said herself that her productivity in her free time has massively increased in the last two years; she's like a whirlwind the second he goes down for a nap. It's almost like you need to have time taken away from you for you to realise how you want to spend it.
Today is Wednesday and I'm going to try take things a bit slower. Things like writing this post is a good example of a "could" that I'm proud of myself for doing. In fact, this wasn't even in the backlog, talk about scope creep! This weekend I'm going to London to visit some good friends ahead of starting at my new place on Monday. Between now and then, I hope to indulge myself further.