Being in the midst of extended vacation days, I am grateful to feel unwound and defragged. The proverbial white board being freshly erased and cleaned, ready for new jottings, notations and plans. Family gatherings, lazy summer days and movie nights have allowed my mind the freedom to ponder random ideas without the ringing alarm of deadlines.
Despite being on vacation from my work, I did keep my weekly appointment with a colleague this morning. It is a mile marker for both of us; and our hour-long, online meetings prove to inspire, clarify and keep us both on-track! 
This is also an element of my ritual of counting days. Sort of a new thing, sorta not. Basically, the habit of planning the days {weeks, months and years} between dates I assign to my goals and projects {and vacations!}.
I used to be concerned about time off from work. Freelancing can be a crazy way to earn income due to the {often faulty} belief: If I am not working, I am not earning. However, part of a freelancer’s offering is to inspire “out of the box” thinking. Such thought is a renewable resource — thus, it must be renewed. 
Do one thing every day that scares you. ~Eleanor Roosevelt
Time off work, vacations, creative scheduling — all of these options provide us with a new perspective. We can return to work or a routine with a new way of seeing our skill set and expertise, a client project or even the way we value and “count” our days. Another bonus: Burnout can be completely avoided with a routine sprinkling of time off!
A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking. ~Earl Wilson
In the midst of my daily quiet times {even — and especially — for days-without-deadlines} I continue to collage-plan {how-to collage journal}, art journal, and mind-map.
How often do you schedule time off? Days off? Extended vacations?
What concerns do you have when you are not “in the office”?
How are your days “on” differ from your days “off”?
P.S. Regarding counting days, I have not personally used the following resources but they provide you with some ideas for keeping a visual count{down} of your days …
- Calculate duration between two dates
- CountdownClock 1.4.5 for Firefox
- Time Left {widgets}
- Human Calendar {just for fun}
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