WHAT I’VE LOVED ABOUT FURLOUGH

Afternoon Friends – It’s Friday. Another week has passed, April is over (literally lasted 2.5 seconds) anddddd I’m back at work!

At the beginning of April, I was put on Furlough. I hadn’t quite expected it and every thought crossed my mind – like, what the heck am I going to do all month, how will I cope without routine, will I forget everything that I know, how much will I miss, will I sort my life out?

It’s somehow been a month and I’m back at my dining room make-do desk, catching up on clients and already feel like I never left. I had planned to do so much during my time off and looking back, I didn’t achieve a whole lot. But I did spend a lot of time on me, resting, reading, thinking (as well as the occasional, and not so occasional nap and TV binge).

I feel so grateful to have had that time to realign, find some motivation again, take time out, step back and enjoy the chance to essentially do what I want. Even if that was nothing.

Here’s what I’ve loved:

I couldn’t have got through a lot of furlough without the sun and days in the garden. After a few cost days of rain, I would very much like the good weather to return now plz.

I’ve been part of a book club with the girls since the new year and in March we decided to take on a beast of a book, ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett. I’ll do a separate post on my reading journey but I’ve loved (took me a while, mind) having a big book to challenge myself and complete. There is absolutely no chance I would have been 120 pages from the end without furlough and so excited to get stuck into something not medieval and 1000+ pages long.

I’ve enjoyed just having time – not having to clock watch to lunch or the end of the day or my next video call. Being able to sleep in and go to bed late (which will now be a struggle to break out of), being able to plan my day completely as I want and it not matter if I wake up one day and just fancy a day in pyjamas, in front of the TV.

Whilst it hasn’t been my priority (slightly regretting that I didn’t do more) I’ve enjoyed the time to do home workouts and work out what I half enjoy doing and what I want to avoid. I’ve tried to do a few 30 minute workouts each week and on the days I do, I feel good.

I’ve never watched Grey’s Anatomy until now but took the plunge during furlough to start it from Season 1 and my God, I’m obsessed. With 17 seasons to get through, I think that might keep me busy for a while. Pass me the tissues!

Afternoon movies (and maybe a nap) – Nothing better after a semi productive morning to stick a Disney or cosy film on, often around 3pm, make a cuppa and chill out before dinner. This does often lead to a little nap. Probably one of the biggest things that I’ll miss now that I’m back at work.

Furlough has called for lots of cooking and lots of baking  – experimented with different recipes, made cookies without flour, made a classic banana bread, did lots of slow cooking. OH and brought a blender which is 100% the best purchase of 2020 so far – afternoon smoothies with all the coffee are life changing.

Fancy cleaning on a Wednesday morning just cos you can? Furlough has got you covered. The flat has never been cleaner, washing baskets have never been emptier… Except for today as I took a few day off to enjoy my final days of freedom. Buzzing to get cleaning this weekend.

A few of the girls have been out of work so I’ve loved having them to chat to all day in our group chats. Also loved quiz nights with family and reconnecting with work on a Friday for our virtual pub quiz. I’m all gamed out now but it’s been nice to stay connected when I haven’t had work to keep me busy.

Shopping whilst the rest of the world is at work – Doing the food shop right now brings me so much anxiety. I used to enjoy browsing the isles but now have so much pressure to get out of there as quickly as possible and stay away from everyone and only buy ‘essentials’ that I dread it, every time. Despite the stress, it has been nice to shop at a time when less people are likely to be there and most of the time, I’ve caught the stores relatively empty-ish.

***

Furlough has been a weird one. I told myself I’d do lots of soul searching, extra curricular learning, lots of DIY around the house and truth be told, with the exception of reading, I didn’t do too much. But actually, despite the days feeling SO samey towards the end, the break did me good. I feel better, more motivated, rested. I feel happy to be back which is a drastic change from the days before furlough where I spent the day crying after feeling so overwhelmed by everything.

I am SO excited to get back to the office (who’d have thought) but I’m super grateful that I’ve had this time to realise that I’ve got it pretty good.

PS. the bags under my eyes have almost disappeared, and if that’s not enough to sum up my time on furlough, then I don’t know what is.

lovelove,