Christmas and portfolio careers

Winding up for Christmas poses particular challenges for the portfolio careerist. It's a great time of year as most of the rest of the population take at least a couple of days off so there's less of the holiday guilt associated with preparing to be away when everyone else is stuck at work. However, for those of us with a portfolio career there are multiple sets of loose ends to tie up.

For me it was the end of the semester at my university job so making sure all my admin, marking and prep were in order there. Wearing another of my portfolio hats, I was also finishing up batch of editing of a set of A level distance learning materials. I also had several website and copywriting projects to either finish up or prepare for the new year. Last on my list was to put on my out of office, only to find that my gmail account is a bit hit and miss at sending it to all the various email accounts I manage through gmail - ah well, it can't all work like clockwork.

All in all though, preparing for the Christmas break really isn't any worse than tying up multiple loose ends in a more traditional single full-time job. There is only so much time available to spend on each aspect of a portfolio career. It's impossible for each element of a portfolio career to be a full time job (even though it feels like it is sometimes!) so it's all relative and evens itself out nicely. I certainly feel ready for some festive fun though and look forward to picking up the reins of my portfolio career again in January.

New year's resolutions for my portfolio career:

1. Make sure home life not neglected in pursuit of a balanced and interesting portfolio
2. Sort out my invoicing and book-keeping systems
3. Keep advocating for portfolio careers as a viable, professional choice
4. Stay focused on work I really want to pursue

Happy Christmas all!