Louise Billington

Ok, it’s official. It’s nearly three months since my last blog post (why do I suddenly feel like I’m in the confessional telling Father O’Malley my sins?). So why the silence? Where have I been? What have I been so busy doing that I haven’t had time to write a single, simple blog post?

Who knows. Who cares. I’ve been busy, I know that. But I think there are times when we’re in action, and other times when we’re in development, or reflection, or just so bored with the thoughts that go round and round in our heads that we don’t have the heart to inflict them on anyone else.

But during my blogging silence, I’ve become aware of a theme that seems to crop up time and time again, in conversations with clients, with friends, with myself. In fact it’s not even a theme, it’s something more sinister, more insidious, more dispiriting. It sucks the very life force out of us. It’s a belief about ‘work’ and what it should look and feel like – difficult, routine, hard, structured, office-based, 9-5, boring, organised.

So many of these beliefs come from our parents, our teachers, the things that we were taught when we were ten. Work hard at school, get good grades and you’ll get a good job. Decide what you want to do and then follow that path for the rest of your life. Progress up the career ladder, get promoted, work hard, retire, die.

They’re beliefs that belong to a ‘job-for-life’ generation, a time before technology, the internet, social networking, a global economy and more personal and social freedom than we’ve ever experienced before. And they seem to rear their ugly heads just as we’re trying to relaunch ourselves, our career, our business; after a career break, an illness, redundancy, or just a gnawing sense that life needs to be different.

So I was hugely refreshed, re-energised, in fact regenerated in a slightly Dr Who way when I stumbled across the concept of Scanners, and the idea that work can be play. Not in a mucking-about-and-not-taking-life-seriously way, but in a way that encourages us to use our passions and our talents to be of service to others, to solve problems, provide solutions and embrace technology to create a pic’n'mix portfolio career.

Not to feel we have to choose one thing and follow it for the rest of our lives seems a liberating and thoroughly 21st-century concept – Scanners by their very nature have a multitude of interests and an overwhelming resistance to having to choose one at the expense of the others. The downside of this can be procrastination, a trail of unfinished projects, lack of income and a secret fear that you’ve failed miserably as a human being because you’re not like ‘everyone else’.

The upside is the freedom to live life without a label. To ‘make a living’ in the truest sense of the word – a life that ignites you, that recognises and utilises your talents, that benefits others and still pays the bills at the end of the month.

John Williams is a Scanner, and he’s just published his book, Screw Work Lets Play. I’m only on chapter 2, but I’m revelling in the idea that I can live my life without feeling I have to fit into an out-dated model of the world. Being a Scanner has always been my natural state, and I’m very happy to have finally found my ‘tribe’!

There’s been a real feel of Spring in the air for the past few days. The sun’s been shining, the sky is blue and everyone suddenly seems so much more cheerful.

Seeing new shoots emerging in the garden reminded me how nature stores energy during the winter months, ready to burst into life when the days get longer and brighter. Sometimes it feels the same for us humans – when you’re running your own business it can be easy to drop out of circulation during the cold dark days of winter, when hibernating at home can seem so much more appealing than making the effort to go to a networking event or attend a workshop or exhibition.

So now that Spring has arrived, what could you do to give your marketing a boost and get yourself back in circulation? I’ve been busy booking workshops and networking events, arranging client meetings and writing more web content. I love the buzz I get from meeting new people, and I also love catching up with my clients and hearing about their plans and progress. Spending too much time working on my own stifles my energy and my creativity, so after a long cold winter I’m more than ready to embrace the boost that Spring brings!

At the end of March I’ll be attending the Little Monsters Baby & Toddler Show show in Bristol with my charity client Clover House, so we’re working on some ideas for press coverage in the run up to the event. I’ll also be cheering my friends on at the Bath Half Marathon on Sunday 7th – they’re raising funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care which is a cause very close to their heart. And it’s also birthday month in the Billington household (my husband is one day older than me) so if I’m very good, there might even be an Apple iPad joining the Mac gadgets at home. There will most definitely be presents and cake, and my friend’s son is obligingly playing his first gig for the Bath Blues Brother’s Band on my birthday, so there might even be a bit of dancing!

I hope this burst of sunshine (the weather I mean, not my blog post!) is giving your business activities a boost. I’d love to know what you’ve got planned this month but if you’re stuck for inspiration then get in touch – a quick check-in with a marketing coach might be all you need!

The last few months of 2009 were a bit of a challenge for me. A family bereavement took me away from home for a couple of weeks just as several client projects were coming to fruition. Time pressures meant I wasn’t eating properly, and then just before Christmas I slipped on ice and ended up in A&E. Mild concussion and strict instructions to get plenty of rest and to avoid reading, watching tv or using the computer put paid to my plans to use the festive break to catch up on a backlog of admin.

The new year eventually rolled around, the headache and dizziness abated and like everyone else, I was keen to get back to work. Then it snowed… a lot. We’re not exactly geared up for arctic conditions in the south of England; transport grinds to a halt, schools close and supermarket shelves are stripped bare by panic-buyers, but it usually thaws in a day or two and life gets back to normal.

Not this time. We’ve just had our second heavy snowfall in a week, which combined with sub-zero temperatures has disrupted daily routines for many of us. Regular readers of my blog will know that I’m not particularly inspired by new year at the best of times, preferring the ‘back to school’ energy of September. I generally find January a drag, and have to confess I’ve been struggling to find my motivational mojo.

But I’ve discovered the big freeze has had some advantages. I’ve been working from home, keeping in touch with clients by phone and online, catching up on my admin and generally mapping out my plans for 2010. It feels as though the world has slowed down, and after recent months that’s been no bad thing for me. It’s also made me realise that, as creative business owners, the most important resource we have is ourselves; if we get run down our creativity suffers, and if we keel over, chances are our business will suffer too.

So rather than write about goals and new year’s resolutions, I’m going to fly the flag for slowing down and making time to look after number one – after all your business needs YOU! Here are my top tips for a bit of self-care – if the cold weather’s left you feeling less than perky, try a few of these and see if they give you a boost:

1. Make sure you eat well. Rediscover the pleasure of something simmering on the stove rather than the soulless experience of a ready meal pinging in the microwave. If you’re short on inspiration, check out the recipes on www.goodtoknow.co.uk – I tried their Curried Leek and Sweet Potato Soup earlier this week and it was simple to make, tasted delicious and goes a long way towards your 5-a-day.

2. Take up a new hobby. Doing what you love as a business doesn’t mean you can’t also do what you love just for you. Whether it’s another creative activity like sewing, photography or writing or a more energetic pursuit such as salsa, aikido or bombing down a snowy hill on a sledge, indulge in something that lets you switch off from the day job and have fun just for the hell of it.

3. Get some therapy. No, I’m not suggesting you need to see a shrink, but finding time for a massage, facial, manicure or a new hairstyle is a great way to give yourself a boost (and yes guys, that can mean you too). If it feels like too much of an expensive indulgence at this time of the year, get in touch with your local college – beauty therapy students need willing victims (sorry guinea pigs) to practice on and treatments often cost as little as £5.00-£10.00.

4. Put a business emergency plan in place by utilising new technologies and developing a virtual support team. Use networking opportunities and recommendations to find a great virtual assistant, essential IT support and a business telephone answering service, and explore online document services such as GoogleDocs and Huddle that allow you to share work online with your virtual team. Don’t wait until something goes wrong – plan ahead so that you’ve got a reliable back-up system in place if you need it. If you get snowed in, are battling technology gremlins or laid up with a nasty virus your virtual team can help keep your business afloat until the emergency’s over.

5. Challenge yourself to do ‘100 new things in 100 days’. The idea originated at www.coachville.com and certainly beats giving yourself a hard time over failed New Year’s resolutions. Simply aim to do 100 new things in the next 100 days – they don’t have to be big, clever or expensive, they just have to be something you haven’t done before. You could take a new route to work, read a different newspaper, invite friends over for afternoon tea, wake up to a different radio station or check out a visitor attraction in your home town. And yes, by all means add skydiving, bungee jumping or running a marathon to your list – just remember you don’t have to do daring to do new. The idea is to stretch your comfort zone and explore new things that will refresh your energy and renew your creativity.

Have fun taking care of number one – and I’d love to hear how you get on!