I set out to change my working life about 18 months ago, starting my own micro business, and it’s been a while since I checked in with progress. I’ve previously blogged about my efforts to re-invent Mondays, but time flies when you are having fun, so let’s jump into the update.
A bit like in a romantic comedy, career change narratives often focus on making a decision or leading up to a big change. Then, when the new life or new job has been secured, what follows is more of a montage of what the new reality looks like, as our heroine happily cycles to work through a picturesque village, opening the little bakery she’s set up in the community she’s now part of. Or there’s a sunrise picture of a former workaholic CEO paddle boarding before undertaking meaningful work for a social enterprise. So far, so cliché.
My own version of the story goes as follows: Eighteen months in, I am still running my small, yet perfectly formed, venture, and I am just about to close my second full financial year as Maren Deepwell Coaching & Consultancy. My work is also still split between executive coaching and consultancy, pretty evenly.
Working in the not-for-profit sector for 15 years has indoctrinated me so far into transparent governance that I even write my own Director’s Report every 4 months, reporting (to an audience of 1 human and 2 dogs) on progress against KPIs, which include financial and operational figures together with logs of how much I have worked and impact measures.
One of the biggest bonuses of having a lot of CEO experience is that now being in charge of my own business comes easily, and I love being my own boss even if it brings with it a lot of headaches and risks to manage.
Daily, weekly and monthly routines have started to establish themselves, and I am finding myself happily anticipating a busy month or a quiet period because there is some joy in knowing what to expect and it is much easier now that it was in the first few months to anticipate what the week might bring.
Recording the podcast, compiling the newsletter, blogging… these and other activities bring shape to my days, and I have a reliable system of reminders scheduled and repeating that remind me to do things like catch up with financial paperwork, schedule CPD sessions or document coaching hours.
I’ve also managed to get my non-work routines established: a hart fought road back to running has seen me complete my first 10k of the year a few weeks ago, and I have a few more in the pipeline for April and June.
Alongside running and the dog walks, yoga has made a return to my life over the past year, and I am now more able than before I keep a regular practice.
Even a bike has been purchased second-hand, and one some mornings I cycle into town or to the library, merrily ding, ding, ringing my bell.
It’s not all montage material, however, because of course running a business like this is precarious, particularly in these uncertain times, and there are days when nothing happens and no one responds to my emails. When there’s not enough work or I don’t do as much as I’d like to have done.
I can’t imagine leaving my home working life any time soon. Maybe there’ll be a time when I will get itchy feet and look for something different, but at the moment, the working life I have built for myself is taking shape and the shape fits. Mondays are no longer dreaded days of stressful meetings. More often than not, my week now starts with no meetings and a dog walk instead, and I am very grateful indeed that I have found a way of working that satisfy my creative curiosity and also pays the bills. Long may it continue.