This is the first post I have published here since the 26th August. A week prior to the start of the new school year I decided to take a short break from blogging. This is not to say I wasn’t writing. On the contrary I have a number of posts ready to be published in the near future, including a post detailing how I’ve continued my efforts to reign in my web footprint, culminating in the deletion of my Facebook account for the second time. More on that, anon.
During this time I also continued to dip my toes in the Twitter stream and posted occasionally over at Et cetera, my other blog. However, I found that having taken a couple of weeks to finish my third MA paper and ease my way into the start of term, I had some breathing room. It felt good. It was then that I decided I would extend this mini-sabbatical for a few more weeks.
The extended break allowed me to finish off a few personal projects; to focus my energies on what has been a good but challenging start to the new school year; and to get a number of new projects off the ground.
This time last year was a different story altogether. I started the new school year in full flow – writing, blogging, planning, marking, starting the MA… the list goes on. The result? I found that come October I was drowning. I did not want to repeat this, hence the self imposed break.
Sometimes, you need to stop and ask yourself: “What is most important to me, right now? What really matters?” It is when you stop and take the time to consider this that you might find some things can wait. That the best way to prioritise your time, is to put some things down for a while. I love writing this blog but my day job is far more important. This blog would not exist in the first place without it. What’s more, taking a month off has not hurt one bit. In fact it has only served as a reminder of how much I enjoy writing and sharing my experiences online.
Are you giving your most important tasks the time and energy they deserve? Or are you spreading yourself too thin? Perhaps, it is time to take stock and ask yourself: “Where should I be focussing my time and energy?”