Back to porridge post career break

Back to porridge may be a Northern Irish term...which basically means 'time to get back to work', relevant to me as I recently returned to the world of full time work after an 18 month career break and so 2 months in, I’m reflecting on the adjustment.

• As much as we dream of freedom, structure is important: It was such a privilege to take time off to focus on my personal goals and travel, however, towards the end I was longing for some home comforts and the idea of structure began to sound appealing. And now that I’ve chosen to be back working full time I have a newfound appreciation for my routine, plus that feeling of satisfaction after a week of work is really something else, and when days off are scarce, they are also way more precious
• Time off brings clarity: When you are running really fast it can be easy to forget your why and when I did step away, after a rest I quickly realized that I wasn’t ready to take a step back in my career. Also about 6 months into the break I began to describe my brain as ‘itchy’, from under-use, something my husband gets worried when I mention as it usually means I’ve got a new plan! and on exploring this more I realized it was my subconscious telling me I needed to be doing more
• Mind versus Body: Coming back to work after a long career break was actually harder physically than mentally. It took me a while to build the stamina required for long days of meetings and sitting in the one position, however my mind adjusted way more quickly to being back ‘in the flow’. Stepping away did force me to slow down and so coming back required an intentional mindset gear shift, which at times felt overwhelming, but happily I found it didn’t take long to reset but my body definitely resisted more than my brain.

So those are my early thoughts as I re-assimilate back into the world of full time work. I wonder how long it will be until my time out feels like a dream..? Luckily I have 5,000 pictures to remind me ??