Pause, shuffle, new disc

How quickly an intended 2 or 3-day break from writing entries can turn into a 2-week hiatus. Viewing my entries by day displays a monthly calendar I implemented over the holidays. It sadly reveals a very sparse January so far. I’ve been railed by friends and family for not keeping up with the writing. Seems these words supplant the traditional phone calls and emails for keeping tabs on what I’m up to.

After I left Wired in November last year, I decided to take the rest of 2002 off to spend time traveling and visiting friends around the country. I enjoyed my time as much as I could. But the problem with this concept was the guilt I felt for not diving into details of the new business immediately. I’m a workaholic by nature. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things I needed to do. Or even the things I still needed to figure out. Friends can testify of my anxiety levels. Nonetheless, the time off was very much appreciated. And certainly the consultation with good friends was exactly what I needed. If nothing more, it showed me my career isn’t going to fall away should I happen to leave it rest for a month or two. Something we should all have the luxury of once in a while.

Since the New Year rolled over, I’ve been busy trying to balance the many tasks and responsibilities of starting a design business. Things like creating Estimate and Invoice templates, talking with contacts, strategizing direction, and even ordering updated business checks. I’ve also jumped into my first couple of client projects, which have swallowed up even more time, but that’s a good thing. Those who do this on a regular basis — and are writing a book — and are speaking at conferences: I’m still wondering how it all gets done.