2013 has been one hell of a year, both in business and on a personal level.
My day job has kept me increasingly busy as the economy has continued to pick up. This site has continued to grow this year which has brought it’s own challenges and of course we launched the National Fenestration Awards in 2013 too. Not to mention fitting in a regular gym routine and buying my first house. All things which have taken a lot of time, but that I have thoroughly enjoyed. It really has caught up with me though.
I do enjoy work. It might sound a bit sad, a statement like that. But I really do enjoy working hard to create something and seeing it come to fruition at the very end. I have done a lot of that this year and I’m pretty proud of what I have achieved. It has taken a lot of late nights, too many on reflection. As December came around, my body started to tell me to slow down. Waking up in the morning was very hard, motivation was scarce and effort similarly lacking. I needed Christmas, but I thought I would miss working too.
How I was wrong! As soon as my last day at work on December 20th finished, I said to myself that I would take a proper break to recharge my batteries. I’ve nipped into the office for all of 3 hours to check on things, and I haven’t written anything on here over the Christmas break other than this post. I have planned for a few to go live that I wrote before we broke up for the holidays, but nothing other than that. I really have enjoyed Christmas this year.
I’ve enjoyed it even more now I’m in my own house. But what Christmas has taught me is that work isn’t everything. Yes it pays the bills, and yes it’s fun seeing your hard work pay off. But it’s just as important to make sure you make time to relax, enjoy your time with friends and family and switch off from work so your mind can truly disengage from the pressures of work. I’ve enjoyed getting up later, not having to work to deadlines, not sending tons of emails a day, making endless phone calls and churning out quotes for customers. I’ve managed to spend lots of time with Soph, which has been fantastic and we’re both enjoying some well earned time together.
This sort of year also brings on the thought of making New Years resolutions. I made plenty last year and I think I did a decent job of succeeding in most of them. But I took on too much this year and that is going to influence my resolutions for 2014. I think the ones for the coming year are pretty simple:
1. Continue a regular fitness/gym routine – I did pretty well up until the very end of this year, so I want to make sure I keep up to it!
2. Limit my workload – I’ve mentioned before that I thought I took too much on last year. That is why in 2014 I am determined to restrict what I do. I intend to work hard on my day job, this site and the NFA’s and no more than that. I have been told that whilst it’s great to take on new things, too many of them will run me down. So, no more increasing my workload!
3. Take more time off – I had hardly any days off this year. In fact the only genuine days off in 2013 can be counted on one hand – barring festival time off of course! I am self employed so I need to take advantage of that. I have really enjoyed my time off work this Christmas and I intend not to work myself into the ground during 2014.
Fairly straightforward resolutions I think. Shouldn’t be too difficult to stick to.
I guess what Christmas has taught me is to make more time for myself and learn to disconnect from work properly. It has taught me to enjoy my time with my loved ones more and to appreciate it. And a note to all you guys reading this: work really isn’t everything. I have seen a few tweets over Christmas from you saying you’ll be going in the office on Saturdays and Sundays, doing paperwork and other office related tasks. Whilst that effort is admirable, remember that you probably have friends and family that want to spend time with you too, even if it means you’re not getting that order processed that day. It won’t harm to take a few extra days off to recharge the batteries!
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!
