And breathe….

The last day of term finally arrived and then whizzed past in a flash. Everyone counting down to home time in a state of end-of-term-delirium. True to form whilst everyone was winding down I beavered away to the last minute. Having started working at the crack of dawn I was determined to make it through my to-do list. It worked out well because by the time the children went home at 2pm I was on the last leg of my list. Somehow I managed to be all wrapped up and ready to leave by 3pm. A complete first for me but an important shift in the way I manage my work and prioritise it. On my whiteboard is my January list that will remind me where to pick up when the Spring term starts. It acts as a sort of brain dump for me. I’ve been through the thought process, sorted out what needs to be a priority when term resumes and now my mind is surprisingly free.

It’s now 3am and I’m only 12 hours in to my Christmas break. I’m wide awake but not because my mind is whirling with finance, hr, premises etc but because I feel decidedly light and carefree. I’m so looking forward to two weeks of family time (and more importantly having a lie in each day!)

A couple of days ago I ran a poll on Twitter. It was great to see that 52% of the respondents planned to do no work whatsoever over the school holidays but I wonder about the other 48%. Is there pressure to keep at it? Is there a guilt about stepping away from the workload? Or is it dedication on another level?

It feels amazing to be in a place where I can switch off and not worry about all the things I need to get done. I’ve incorporated the two week break into my work plans and it works for me. It’s only taken me three years to get to this point but from now on I will be scheduling in downtime to make sure I experience this light, carefree feeling more often!