work/life balance

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

When is the last time you did something for the first time?

I heard this adage (for the first time) a few days ago just before embarking on my first Tough Mudder—a 10-mile run (OK, walk for me) interrupted by 20 obstacles, most of which involved cold water and mud. One even had electricity. It took my husband and me nearly five hours to finish.

Why, at age 54, was I doing this? Because I never had. Because I still could. Because if I don’t keep challenging myself I will atrophy physically, mentally, and emotionally.

It’s why a very good friend, who is in his 70s, is right now walking 500 miles along the Camino De Santiago in Spain—by himself.

Look, we are all in the healthcare field. We know the myriad ways in which our bodies fail. In just the past two months a friend lost her sister to ovarian cancer; another friend was diagnosed with prostate cancer; a high school friend died of throat cancer; a friend in her 20s had a recurrence of the rare brain tumor that … Continue Reading

Labels:
stress work/life balance

From CrossFit to StorySLAM: The Value of Taking Risks

From CrossFit to StorySLAM: The Value of Taking RisksIn honor of Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season, I’m taking a break from my rants about the election and health care. Instead, I want to talk about taking risks.

I’ve never been a risk taker. I don’t gamble. I’m extremely financially conservative. I would never go on vacation without a hotel reservation. The biggest risk I’ve taken in the past 20 years was starting my own business.

But as I move through my 50s (I turn 54 November 30) I’m also moving out of my comfort zone and starting to take more risks. It began two years ago when I started CrossFit, the uber exercise program that combines strength training with cardio with gymnastics. To understand how unlike me this was, you should know that I hated exercising and did the bare minimum required so I could drink as much wine as I wanted and still fit into my clothes.

Then came an hour of daily torture that often left me close to tears and literally on the floor staring at the ceiling certain … Continue Reading

Labels:
stress work/life balance

Working on the Weekend

deskHow was your weekend? Get a lot of Christmas shopping done? Clean your house? Spend some quality time with the kids?

I spent my weekend working, trying to get a jump on a book I’m writing for two doctors.

And that’s ok.

In fact, that’s one thing I always tell “newbies” (people who are thinking about or who have just decided to go into freelance medical writing who ask me for my trade secrets). Looking for a 9 to 5 work schedule? Fuggedaboudit!

When you’re a freelancer you are also a business owner. And your business doesn’t stop at 5 p.m., especially in these days of 24/7 access. That means being available to your clients, current and potential, around the clock at least to the point of responding to emails in a timely manner, even emails that come in on a Saturday.

I’ve been freelancing for 10 years now and I can count on two hands the number of full weekends I’ve taken off (defined as not sitting in front of my computer for anything other than e-mail checks). I work during vacations, I … Continue Reading

Labels:
freelance work/life balance