Nuts! It’s true. When I told friends and colleagues that I was taking a break from my business to redecorate my house they all said I was nuts … but I did it anyway!
So were they right? Yes and no
Yes they were right as of course it makes financial sense to always have an income however, there’s a lot to be said for doing something completely different, taking time out and giving oneself permission to do so. In everyday life it can be hard to stand back and see the bigger picture as we can get so caught up in our routine and of course walking away from any income can be hard to justify to oneself, let alone others. So on the one had they were right, on the other hand they were wrong.
The reality of competing goals
We can’t stand on the fence forever; there comes a time when we have to get off it, take a jump and land on one side of the other. I realised that as someone who works from home, having decorators, electricians, tilers, etc coming in and out of the house, sometimes at random intervals, was not conducive to me working and Covid restrictions meant I had nowhere else to work.
Off the fence: I made the decision that apart from the work that required specific trades (electricians, plumbers etc) I would do as much of the work that I could. Just making the decision was a relief in itself.
Each decision has a consequence
There was more than the financial consequence of my decision; undoubtedly it took me longer to do some of the work than I had anticipated and I hadn’t bargained on having to watch as many ‘How to …’ YouTube videos!
Ruined clothes: Numerous t-shirts and jeans are now permanently covered in paint and plaster. Ripping out kitchen wall units left me often covered in dust and feeling fed up and disheartened. But, and the big but here is that I had a real break from my normal work (which incidentally I really love!) and was able to make decisions about future plans that I had been delaying.
The Ins and the Outs: Admittedly it was a concern to have no income and only outgoings but I was able to remind myself that I had chosen to do this for a reason and that it was not going to be a permanent situation. Yes, it was not a permanent situation and that’s such an important thing to remember on days when we feel we are climbing an uphill battle or applying yet another coat of paint.
The perfect situation
Was my decision a perfect one? No. Were there days that even the thought of more dust from sanding walls was demoralising? Yes there certainly were! But there were positive consequences, one of which was a great reminder that often in life there are no perfect decisions, no perfect situations. All we can do is weigh up the options and accept the consequences of our decisions and there’s nothing nuts about that!