One day I will have reached a stopping place before time off. My sentences finished, my documents closed, my away messages up.

Instead, I usually feel like a kitten in a yarn tangle. I keep pouncing on ideas or projects, thinking to wrestle them to an end, and instead find that I am further ensnared with no end in sight.  

So instead, I close documents without finding ends to sentences or paragraphs. I put the away message up after Theo goes to bed. I tell myself perhaps I’ll steal some time from my days off to capture some of my thinking on paper, if only to make myself feel better about closing the laptop. Best of all if I instead keep a notepad for my good ideas on hikes, and leave my laptop closed until my time off ends.

In this pause, I wish for you all the fortitude to set boundaries in your personal and professional life that help you thrive. I wish you the bravery to not finish your tasks before closing the computer. If you, like me, are managing and reinventing around heartbreak, I hope you can be patient with the process. If you can, prioritize self-preservation activities: meditation, medication, exercise, journaling, long walks, crying, long fantasy books about dragons – whatever helps your balance.