A bit of everything has been happening all at once this week

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A bit of everything has been happening all at once this week. It's one of those occasions where I don't really know which way to turn so I've turned all ways at once! Let me explain-

Work

I've been offered the chance to  step up to the next level until after Christmas. It means going full-time for a few months and this impacting on the available time I have to do other things. But I've  accepted the offer in the basis that many of the other things I do at this time of year will start to tail off.

Fiverr

I came home to 4,500 words of fiverr writing on Friday night. It's mice to get regular sales on fiverr and it means that my gig explanations are hitting the right notes. I'm relatively new to fiverr and I'm finding out that Friday afternoon seems to be the time for buyers to instruct you. About 60% of my gigs have been commissioned on a Friday afternoon. I set aside two hours on Saturday morning to complete the gigs and I've had the first drafts sent off for approval.

Mystery shopping

This does really start to tail away at this time of the year when retailers really want to concentrate on serving customers and making money.

http://mysteryshopperblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/its-time-to-start-mystery-shopping-now.html

There have been a couple of mystery shops and a gambling success but few and far between-

http://mysteryshopperblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/see-how-quick-mystery-shopping-trip.html

Book sales

I've been using my blogs to promote my books more and more recently, especially-

The Mystery Shop Blog - http://mysteryshopperblog.blogspot.co.uk/

How to Sell Your Home - http://how-to-sell-a-home.blogspot.co.uk/

I'm finding that books sales are steady and that interest in the blogs is increasing well at the moment. From here I hope to produce a solid regular income for when the business opens.

homeestates

Fiverr

Seller

I am a writer - I write all the time. I have several blogs, have written three books (so far) and I just love writing. I will write positive reviews or articles or mention you in my blogs in clear English. I'm new to Fiverr but I'm incredibly passionate about what it can empower.

Back at work after 11 days off

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I'm back at work today after 11 days off and I always find this the toughest few days of the year. As I come away from time with the family and look on to time with my work colleagues it always takes a little time for my body and my mood to settle into a normal routine. And I think that "normal" changes every time I go back after a period of time off. 

So, how do you make that transition easier?

How do you get back into the swing if things as quickly as possible, without too much turmoil?

There are a few ways of helping this, and a few things to avoid.

Sleep patterns

I think that a major change in your sleep patterns when you are not at work will bring about a more painful transition when you go back to work. For example, I usually start the day's work at 7:30am and I get up around 5:50am to get ready to work. I try not to get up any later than 6:30am during my time off, and the transition back to 5:50am starts isn't a difficult one. If I laid in bed until 8am or later, then I'm sure I would have much more trouble in getting up and getting motivated to work today.

Doing a job you want to do

This is a massive help, and will probably out-drive any other motives I list here. If you are doing a job that you enjoy, then you've probably most of the way there. It will make an instant impact on the fact that you will have that ready motivation to get up and go after a break. I have a job the I genuinely enjoy and the fact that I have missed a week fills me with a little excitement and I want to get back and see what's going on. This leads me to the next thing, which I think also helps-

Taking a complete break

I believe that not having anything to do with work facilitates a better transition back into work. It may sound strange, but a large part if your time off is being completely away from work and all the distractions and stresses it brings. I go to the extent of not going to the same town, and avoiding the same route on my travels. I think that all of these things help to rest and recuperate and provide you with the refreshing experience that time away from work should bring. The fact that you go back to work cold can be a little worrying but the fact that you have recharged your batteries offsets this. When you're ready to work and ready to get stuck into it, the work moves along quickly and you can easily catch up with colleagues over the course of the first few days.

Lifestyle

As well as keeping a similar sleeping pattern during your time off, it makes sense to keep similar lifestyle patterns - eat at the same time, drink the same amount, at a similar time, exercise at the same time, etc. Having a similar life pattern each day helps the body and mind to operate at it's fullest. It also helps to promote a consistent mood and aids recovery from exercise and illness. All of this will help you to get back into the swing of things as you return to work, as it keeps the culture shock element of your return to a minimum.

Try these tips to help you return - it's helping me today!

Sleep patterns all over the place

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I can't sleep, then I can't stay awake and I really don't know why. I've been falling asleep somewhere between 7pm and 11pm then waking up anywhere between 3am and 8am. I'm trying to eliminate the causes as I go, but I'm really stumped at the moment.

I've come away from eating and drinking too late in the day - 7pm has become the cut off time-

http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2014/12/subtle-changes-to-my-diet-are-reaping.html

I'm not waking up by thinking about or worrying about anything, in fact I'd say that I have less and less to worry about as I get closer to my dream. Things are starting to fall into place and I'm moving to an area that I want to work in, in a way I want to work.y current job is going well, and I'm cutting hours in the new year, which will help me to pull things together. I'm also pretty close to getting the right order of things, so I can clearly see where I'm going to be, and at what stage.

There are some patterns that I'm trying to break - the really early starts do coincide mainly with me falling asleep before 9pm, but not exclusively.

My day job isn't so physical that it tires me out, so we can rule this out as an effect.

Maybe I'm just excited. I think we've bought well for the kids this Christmas, and I think they'll love their presents. I'm also raring to get to the new year and to start making great strides towards opening my estate agency. Maybe it's this?

A head cold takes over my day, hopefully not my week

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I've got a cold, and it seems like it's taking over everything else in my life.

At the moment I'm just sleep, work, sleep and not a great deal else is being done. It's stopped all my mystery shops, my surveys, work on the computer and any physical work towards setting up the estate agency.  All I can do is get rested, get over this and regroup at the end of the week when, hopefully, it's all cleared.

On a connected note, I've been offered via work the opportunity to have the flu jab for only £5. I don't know how this stacks up against other offers but if it buys me a few days of not feeling like this over the coming Winter then it may be worth it.