A new chapter…

I recently shared on LinkedIn that I’m embarking on a new chapter of my own. For over 7 years, I’ve been a ‘part-time worker’, having made the choice like my many mothers (let’s be honest, it’s still mainly the mothers!) to cut my working days to 4 after my first child was born, and then to 3 days once I became self-employed in 2021.

Now with both my children at school, it’s the end of an era of weekdays with a little one in tow and of limiting my working hours to be with them. Whilst I’m obviously sad to be saying goodbye to those precious days with my little one(s), it's also, if I’m honest, a moment I’ve also been longing for. Telling myself it’s going to be so much easier for me to manage and grow my business once I have more time, that I’ll feel less compressed and that I’ll also be able to do more life admin and stuff for me in the week.

And now it’s here … a point of transition and the start of a new chapter with the sense of opportunity and slight trepidation that brings! Will I make the most of it? Did I build it up too much?  What do I actually want to do with this extra time? Will I be able to grow my business and what does that even look like?

Transition points, new chapters and shifts are what I work on with pretty much all of my clients. Designing and defining their vision of what they want and need, and then making it happen. Now facing my own transition point, here are some of things I’m doing to help me navigate it!

·       Thinking actively about how I want my life to look now. I took myself and a notebook off to a café and wrote down my thoughts around:

1.      What do I want in this new chapter? What’s the same? What’s different?

2.      What is my ideal average week?

3.      What is my ideal average day?

4.      What words stand out as key for this next chapter?

·       Feeling a (self-imposed!) pressure to make the most of this new time … and recognising my own tendencies to procrastinate and not prioritise working ‘on the business’, I’ve started working with a business mentor / coach to shape and achieve my vision for my business and enhance my ways of working!

·       Giving myself time to explore and try things out. As I’m self-employed, I don’t have to make a fixed decision around how I design my working week yet. Yes, I want to work more for sure, but how that looks is still tbc. I also want to make sure I build in things for non-work and non-mum me into my week. I think it will take a few months to get into a rhythm and way of working that works for me!

So, there’s a little insight into how I’m approaching my own transition and perhaps there’s something in here that can help you with your own!