At the end of this month, one of my longest running contracts ends. Today? I’m starting all over again. That’s the life of a management consultant and honestly, it has both good and bad elements. The fear of finding work is always real; the opportunity of doing something new, however, is just as real. I will vacillate between fear and optimism now until work stabilizes and that’s just how I roll. But for today, optimism reigns.
In one sense, I’m looking forward to a quiet-ish May. It was a very busy start to the year and a little downtime during my favorite month is nothing to dismiss. I also made a super healthy deal with my husband last night. Since it’s value cannot be understated to me, I thought I’d go ahead and share:
First things first, we discussed limiting business development to 1-2 hours a day. After that? Two big things happen. First, I oversaturate the market and don’t get my best stuff out there. Second? I get frustrated and disappointed. While I want to prove I’m hustling, my husband made two points: first, he already knows that and second, business development works best over time. Grinding out eight hours of business development only means that the next day, I don’t have anywhere else to go. Or, if I do, I appear stalkerish. It’s best to plant, water and let the sunshine work. That saves both the opportunity to do “BD” over time as well as my own sanity.
Next, my husband asked what I was going to do for myself over the quiet period. By limiting BD to 1-2 hours a day, I have an excess of amount of time on my hands. His point? Eventually, I’ll get busy again with work. If I don’t take the time now to enjoy a little bit of life, I’ll only burn out. Taking the opportunity for a little relaxation is not just a good thing, it’s a healthy thing. That perspective – particularly when it comes from your partner – is genuinely very liberating. I would have felt guilty taking time for me; now, I feel free to do so. While we joked that I will over-mow the yard (he thinks I do that anyway) and get obsessive about cleaning, I also plan to work on my novel and read a few books myself. I definitely want to make sure I run/walk at least three times a week. My big push though? Oh, that’s number three on the list: using this time to benefit us both the most.
This third part of the deal is hugely important to me. One of the things I can do while I’m experiencing a downturn in work is to use this time to really smooth our path. The little things add up: meal prep, daily housekeeping, pet care, lawn care, financial management – they all take time. Last night, after I had spent my day assembling and sealing our new cedar Adirondack furniture, we sat on the back deck and enjoyed a drink together. While it still has some finishing touches to go, the deck has turned out as good as I had hoped. More than that? My husband noted it as one of the things he was grateful for. He had taken an hour around lunchtime to sit outside and work on the deck, thanks to the comfy chairs and the sun umbrella (and a laptop). As we sat there and enjoyed a drink after work, we were table to talk about our day and just relax. The atmosphere was not lost on either of us. Before, the deck wasn’t necessarily something we spent a lot of time out on. It was a bit overwhelming to think of the work that needed to be done to fix it and so we tended to avoid it. Plus, it just got too darned hot to even be enjoyable. The umbrella – that thing I ridiculously hesitated about – is turning out to be a game-changer. Now that the deck is largely done, it feels like a real expansion of our living space and I can imagine it getting some pretty good use over the spring, summer and fall.
And so it begins. I have some cleanup work to do before my contract officially ends and a few errands to run today. I’ve got a good dinner planned and I’m looking forward to a restful start of the weekend.
In the end, the cycle of consulting will always ebb and flow. It’s essential to the work. For now, I am genuinely going to take the time and enjoy it.
The Yuppie Homesteader 