There are only two constants in our weeks, and those are: drugging cats every eight hours, and Joe’s aikido sessions twice a week.

Beyond that, there’s no routine to anchor us. Theoretically, that means we can get up any time, do what we like when we like, and go to bed when we like. Realistically, our days are filled with work (mostly work), walks, the vet, the gym, and all the things needed to keep life going.

But most days we get to choose when those things happen (except work!). Joe does multiple website migrations every day, and then of course there’s all the questions we answer, sales chats and emails, and all the work that goes into running and maintaining the business. I absolutely love it because it’s so varied, and I can choose what I want to do and when.

I love it so much that I struggle to do anything that’s not work. Because it involves things like chatting on Facebook, writing, and taking photos, it’s not often I need to do tasks I don’t like.

When I first started out being self-employed, I wanted to stick to a routine. I’ve always had specific routines, and it felt weird (and I felt guilty and confused) if I didn’t have one. As time went on though, I realised how efficient everything could be. I could fit things I needed to do in bits of time that made sense, instead of waiting till “lunchtime” or “the end of the working day.”

Sometimes we’re up literally all night, so waking up at the same time every day doesn’t make sense (although my body tries!). I’ve become a big fan of naps, random baths in the middle of the day, and leaving the house when other people are at work to do things like the food shopping. Although we’re tied to our laptops a lot, and we always need to be somewhere where there’s good internet, there’s still a huge sense of freedom that comes with not having to be at a certain place for a certain time, or sitting in an office for x hours. It makes work a lot easier – there’s no way I could have done 18 hour working days in an office for 2+ years – it would have been exhausting!

We’re also very lucky to be living in a small city with a very cheap cost of living. It means we can go out for more breakfast than we can eat for £12 (for both of us, including a drink), and we can enjoy going out without feeling guilty (we’re currently saving to either save this house or buy a new one, depending on what brokers say).

But there are also other side effects of not having a routine. Conversely, I value my time even more. I’m not afraid of saying no to people if there’s something else I’d rather be doing instead, and I don’t feel guilty about it. One of these things is sitting around chatting. I absolutely hate it unless it’s someone I’ve not seen in forever and there’s years to catch up on. I like chatting, but only if it’s accompanied by food/gaming/screens/some other kind of entertainment. My worst thing is just sitting still talking; I’m just not comfortable doing it and I hate my brain relaxing :D

Very often, I have no clue what day it is (knowing the time is more common because of Ginge’s medication). Some days feel like other days because I don’t sleep and things merge together. But generally, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Of course I would change not having to be tied to the house so much for the cats – I’d love to go on holiday somewhere, maybe rent an apartment in a European city for a few weeks – but that feels doable in the future. Not a million miles away. I think it’s hope giving me happiness, and I love that.

Recently, my lack of routine has been even more pronounced because of creating and soft launching my first course. It’s been selling pretty well considering I only did a tweet, a Facebook post, and an earlybird email about it, and it doesn’t have affiliate commission on it. It’s amazing seeing my own “real” product out there, and the feedback has been amazing so far. It’s made all the late nights and stress worth it, and I’m excited to start on the next course!

What have you been up to lately?