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Why I take this week off every year


You should all know by now that I am a workaholic and an overachiever. I work holidays, early mornings, late nights, double shifts. Sometimes in the busy season I work 15 hour days. I love my job and it is fulfilling enough to keep me going. Even my vacations most time turn into work vacations.

Every year I take off the very last week. No photography, no kroger, no parenting... I know that sounds harsh but I need one time a year where I don't have to worry about anything at all. I get to lay on the couch, eat junk food, take naps, binge watch TV, color, draw, read a book and just be me. There is nothing required of me, nobody needs anything from me. There is no pressure and I only do things I want to do.

Sometimes put so much pressure on what other people want from us and what the world expects our lives to look like. Having a profession that requires me to be plugged into the world expects our lives to look like. Having a profession that requires me to be plugged into the world via social media all the time, it's so important to unplug and step away from it all.

I love my job and I am not trying to complain. However, customers as much as I love them can be pretty demanding. Editing can be exhausting and stressful. All the mini sessions, working non-stop for hours is draining. October- December is the busy season for photographers so all of these things non-stop for months is almost too much to bear sometimes. The only way to get through it is to remember that it won't last forever. That I have a whole week of not doing anything coming up to look forward to.

After a week long break from life and all thats expected of me I'm rested, renewed and recharged. I then spend the next two days planning my next year. First I like to go over my previous years failures, success, what goals I achieved and which ones fell short.

Then I look at what I learned of myself for the next year and what steps I need to take to get there. I pick one thing each month I need to focus on so that I don't get overwhelmed. This is also known as batch working which is my saving grace. I wrote a whole years worth of blog pieces in the month of January. Now I don't have to worry about it again and I am free to focus on other areas that need my attention. I planned all my holiday dates and mini sessions as well.

Then I spend some time praying over my goals, wants, needs and the year in general. What God wants, what I want, then making sure the two line up.

After I'm done with all that I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I go into the new year with hope and dreams. The perseverance that makes it all possible. This model won't work the same for everyone but I suggest you find a way to try and find your own groove so that you can experience peace instead of stress. Don't wait and try to do it month by month because it's easy to let things slip when you get busy.

I got faith that you can do this. Just believe in yourself, get to work, plan it out and go rock your next year.


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