Working less, but feeling…

What I noticed when I went from a 60 to 20 hour work week.

In 2020 I left a leadership position at a creative agency to take some time off and consider new paths. I regularly worked sixty or more hours a week, with perpetual deadlines, urgent hiring needs and client requests. I took almost a full year off before starting to consult for another company for roughly fifteen to twenty hours a week. All on my own schedule.

I had an initial euphoria at being back in the work work with so much more flexibility and autonomy. It was a thrill to head home at 3pm and have dinner before 6 if I felt like it.

After a month or so, I started to notice a shift. Something about my internal world started to feel familiarly drained and consumed. I was confused, how is this possible, I’m working significantly less and my responsibilities are no where near as vast?

Realized that I was

Feeling my worry

Feeling my thinking

Wasn’t feeling the billable hours, feeling my thinking.