An Argument for Downtime

Not gonna lie. I’m writing this from my bathtub. Because I’m officially in that season of SO. MUCH. TO. DO.

But I wanted to check in with you.

I feel like we are all in that season. It’s supposed to be peace, goodwill, and joy, but it always ends up feeling like panic, guilt, and juggling.

I decided something this morning. I’ve been doing more of that this year: decisions. In July I decided we weren’t going to work for the month. And today I decided that we’re not going to work next December.

Before you get all hot and bothered and appalled that I could suggest something like “not working”, let me explain.

I’m a workaholic. Given the right environment and room to allow my creativity to fall down rabbit holes, you’re going to have a hard time pulling me away from the computer for a month.

But pulling myself away from my computer for a month is essential to nurturing my creativity. And nurturing my creativity is essential, because it kinda drives our revenue, ya know?

So Whitney, you say. What is this “not working” going to look like?

Great question. Let’s define that.

“Not working”, for me, is going to look a lot like learning.

What skills do I need to sharpen?

What classes can I take?

What books can I read?

What projects can I work on, that aren’t oriented around a screen?

Last July, I took up needlepointing. The second we rolled into August, though, that project started collecting dust. It was very therapeutic, and I believe it would do me good to allot some time to go back and finish.

But not now.

I haven’t read an engrossing fiction novel, just for myself, in some time. I would love to find a great non-self-help series and dive into that, just for fun.

But not now.

I love to paint. But it’s messy and so I rarely start paint projects. (Rarely by my standards, not yours.) But I would love to build my artistic content portfolio, not just my creative portfolio.

But not now.

Because right now, this December, I have been blessed with the great pleasure of serving you.

As a team, we’ve taken this year to turn a variety of my creative assets into new projects. We quietly launched a fabric line. We invested in my local space at Mockingbird Manor. We have picked up the pace on blog posts, and I’m writing more personally so that you can hear my voice. We launched our membership community! We’ve tweaked our physical products and next year you are going to see some delightful modifications to our planners! And more!

None of that would have happened if I hadn’t been committed to some self-improvement, and some downtime.

Perhaps this is a sufficient argument for “not working” next December?

But not now.

This December, I am hustling to put the finishing touches on a few creative projects I started. Keep an eye on me; there’s just no telling what I may come up with next.