Dreaming of down time

I’m writing this from Wales where I’m staying with my dear friends S & L who recently left London to live out their countryside dreams. I’ve woken up to birdsong and the view from my window is a square of trees. Dreamy. The stay was supposed to be a little break (aka no work) but perhaps that was always going to be impossible. As a freelancer, I find taking time off a huge challenge. During these few days in Wales, there's been a newsletter to write, an interview with the Met Office, emails to answer, a brainstorming session between a journalist and an eco organisation to organise, a BBC World Service radio programme to edit (and a lot of this I tried to sort out before my trip but it wasn't meant to be). Shall I go on?

Although I'm in Amsterdam A LOT, it’s never a holiday, while my trip to Berlin in July involved a workshop and a hotel review (ok, the latter wasn’t too enduring). I think my last few consecutive days off were over Christmas.

In her newsletter last week, journalist Anna Codrea-Rado wrote about how perhaps we should incorporate more breaks into our daily lives rather than focusing so heavily on the big holiday every year. This I can do. I definitely take time out of my daily life to exercise, head down to the beach for a swim, go on day trips, volunteer, and catch up with friends. But as a freelancer, it's hard to down tools completely. Do you agree?