Cape May Professional Photographer | Kaitlin Noel Photography

Its a foreign concept.

Especially for workaholics such as my self. But here is the difference: I don’t bury myself in work as a coping mechanism to hide from my daily life….or because its the only thing I feel I can succeed at as most psychologists would suggest. I am a workaholic because I LOVE MY “JOB” and my clients THAT MUCH! It should be clear by now that my clients are my friends. My family. Capturing precious and priceless moments in their lives is by no means WORK to me. Its who I am am…not just what I do.

With that being said….and accounting for healthy balance in your life, its EASY AS HECK to forget that you NEED to allow for downtime in your job. For some downtime can be an hour or two out of the office….or for others its a whole week off in a place where the temperature never falls below 80 degrees. Whatever it may be….downtime is JUST AS IMPORTANT as working your hinny off.

When we pour our hearts and souls into our work….the lines between personal life, work, professional and personal….all become blurred. This can be dangerous. When you tie all of these elements of life together, they all become dependent upon one another to succeed.

Simply stated: When one fails, the other will fail. When you struggle in one area, the other area will suffer as well.

Dangerous territory.

There is a solution however– its called DOWNTIME!

Taking a step back, a break….focusing on ONE AREA/ASPECT of your life….un-blurring some lines for just enough time to prioritize them…that will be the deciding factor in your overall success. The downtime you will take will also give you the time and space to breathe, refocus, and prevent yourself from becoming overwhelmed and frustrated with the very elements of your life that usually make you happy.

Everyone gets frustrated…even with the most seemingly perfect things in life. Even having the best job in the world…being a parent…being a wife, being a photographer….its still easy to feel overwhelmed or stressed out. If I am having a bad day at my first job/priority which is being a mom….I already know that my job as a photographer that day will be strained. My patience will be strained. My ability to focus and give my all will be affected. In the end…I will have failed that day at both because I am not giving either one my all….or my focused and positive attention.

I am always asked “How do I do it all?”, “Where do I find the time to do it all?….truth….BECAUSE I ALLOW MYSELF THE DOWNTIME I NEED WHEN I NEED IT TO BE SUCCESSFUL DURING THE HOURS AT WHICH MY ‘JOBS’ NEED MY ATTENTION. I take a 15-20 minute shower when I am actually done in 5. I get a mani and pedi….I sit down and watch a DVR’d show of mine…I stop and back cupcakes….I allow myself the time to do things I love…I allow myself time to focus…become inspired again.

Want to be successful? Then just stop and DO NOTHING….embrace downtime. Appreciate your busy time and love the heck out of the time you literally have nothing to do…or the moments you simply want to do NOTHING! Don’t feel guilty…you are actually better off than the one who NEVER, EVER stops to do such a thing!

Here is to downtime and nothingness! : )

xoxo,

Kaitlin Noel