Busy Doing Nothing... by Barbara (Ruth)

Last month I quit my job. Quite a thing to do, right? And those of you who don't know me probably have a few questions, so let me try to address them up front:

• I'm going to be working for myself on a startup consulting company. (Details to come this week... stay tuned!)
• Yes, I've been thinking about it for a while.
• No, I don't have any clients yet (but I have some terrific leads).
• Yes, it's a huge risk, but I'm feeling really good and confident about it.
• Yes, I'll be working from home.
• No, I haven't really started yet. I'm taking January off. Mostly.

The "Mostly" in the previous paragraph is what got me to thinking about this post title. I'm supposed to be relaxing this month. You know, collecting my thoughts, reading books, sleeping in, and generally getting bored so I will be just itching to jump into the fray next month.

Not so much.

Did you ever see "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", starring the late great Bing Crosby? No? Well, silly costumes notwithstanding, it's a good laugh, and I always remember this particular scene. Dad and I often sang it while walking or canoeing. Have a look, at least at the first bit:

"We're busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do..."

I guess this is me! I am actually really busy these days, but am not really accomplishing all that much. Plus, I'm really enjoying this new kind of busy-ness. I do errands during the day when the stores aren't insane, I walk down the main street in my hood and actually get to poke around in the local businesses that are usually closed in the evenings, I go to the gym at lunch (ok, only once so far... don't judge...), I bake, I set up my new Macbook Air for my business and have time to research all the really cool apps that will help me be organized, I have morning tea with friends who also work from home, I get my hair appointments in the afternoon, I do spring cleaning, I chat with the basement construction team, I zip up to Ottawa to see my folks (and actually spend a fair bit of time organizing their long term care needs), I have dinner with friends I haven't seen in a while, I see matinees, I cook healthy meals, and yes, I read a book on occasion.

Interestingly, I haven't yet had a nap, and I have cut back on at least 75% of my TV viewing. I guess I have no need to escape anymore, so I find evenings are when I do my reading. Who knew life could go on without TV?

So for those of you who are wondering how I'm doing and whether I'm relaxing - the answer is yes. Most definitely. Just not quite how I thought I would be. Life's funny like that.