My Freelance Summer
As the first week of “back to work” draws to a close I wanted to reflect on my “freelance summer”. It’s my first proper summer as a freelancer because last year I was still very much in start up mode. This year, with a little more than a year's experience of working freelance under my belt, I’ve been able to experience the absolute privilege of a freelance summer.
For most of us freelance consultants work goes quiet over the peak of summer whilst people take their holidays. This means we go from juggling lots of different things to quite suddenly having a lot of time on our hands with a just a trickle of work to tie us over. I’ve been really fortunate to have been busy enough for the first part of the year that I didn’t have to worry financially. So, I decided to embrace it and test out how to make the most of my freelance summer.
I’ve had an absolutely fantastic time. I’ve been camping numerous times (something I’ve not done since I was in my 20s!) and experienced at another level the absolute beauty of our countryside. I’ve created precious memories with my extended family. My sister lives overseas and comes back each summer with her family. We usually manage to squeeze in a couple of days of seeing each other. This time, we’ve had 2 mini holidays together - one with my elderly parents - and she’s spent time with me and my family in Manchester. Such precious time together. I’ve been on loads of walks and just enjoyed being able to be around to spend time with my kids in a way I don’t normally get the chance to - those serendipitous conversations where you get little insights into parts of their lives that they don’t normally share! My daughter, as well as graduating (proud mum moment) moved back to Manchester from Liverpool for the summer and it’s been fab to go on shopping trips and for girlie lunches together.
I’ve also had the time and space for loads of CPD. I’ve completed a training programme for a new aspect of consulting that I’m getting involved in (watch this space for more information), have listened to lots of podcasts and listened to audiobooks about leadership and innovative ways of working that people are trying.
Reflecting after the first “proper” week back at work, this time out has done me so much good. My brain feels rested, I feel enthused about the work ahead, I’ve got lots of ideas and new knowledge to draw on and perhaps most importantly, I feel that I have real clarity in my thinking. And that matters. Who wants to commission a consultant who is frazzled and isn’t able to help them navigate through their complex challenges? Increasingly as I work as a consultant I recognise that one of the ways I bring most value to my clients is to help them to think. People are pulled in so many different directions and have so many competing demands to manage. By being one step removed, and feeling calm, and having clarity in my thinking and a whole host of learning and knowledge from what others have done, I can help them to think about their challenges in a different way. I can help them feel more confident in doing things differently and I can help them create space to think and focus about what matters most.
And all of this makes me think about workplace cultures and how we create environments that value creating time and space to think because we’re all working with complex challenges here, and if we can’t bring quality, innovative and clear thinking to them, then things will never change.
