Part of the ADHD experience for me is lacking the ability to stop and rest regularly. Usually, it’s a case of keeping going full pelt til I hit burnout, then melt into a puddle for a while to recharge.

But even then, I refuse to allow burnouts to last too long, because my to do list is actually endless.

Last week though, I didn’t have much choice. I had a pretty nasty tummy bug which meant three days in bed (admittedly I still did some client work when I could, as one client released her book yesterday, and things had to happen) but I didn’t push myself too hard or get annoyed with myself for doing nothing. By Friday, I was getting a bit annoyed though, because though I was starting to feel better, the lack of food for a week meant I was too shaky to do much, my energy levels were super low.

But apparently the universe thought I needed to chill for a week, I just wish there could have been a less painful way! But if it hadn’t been painful, I probably wouldn’t have stopped.

So I feel like I need to learn how to rest and relax more often, so I don’t get ill like this. I started to look at how I could cut down on my workload, and I quit a volunteer position that I had done for over a year, that I did because I wanted to help, but took up a lot of time, that truthfully, I never had to begin with. I intend to try to keep simplifying things, so that I can get to the point where I switch off from work and even social media in the evenings, or for one day a week. Where I do something fun or random, just for myself.

Because being self-employed means I never switch off. And I think I need to learn to. Though here I am, before 9am on a Sunday, answering client emails and writing a blog post about how I need to learn how to relax.

The irony isn’t lost on me, I promise.

I still have a ways to go, but I do hope to get there, because I most certainly do not want to repeat the last week!