Portfolio Working

LEAVING THE 9-5 BEHIND

Get up, go to work, eat, sleep repeat. Where is the time going? So much of it is spent in the office - with a small remainder left down the pub where we anaesthetise our brains from thinking about how we are going to dig ourselves out of this rat race. Life is short - and will be even shorter if we don't allow some time to look after ourselves more. High-stress levels, lack of sleep, missed meals and poor nutrition - no wonder so many people are walking around like zombies. So, what's the options?

Diversification
Taking a set of jobs that can free up our time to investigate other revenue streams, allow time for doing meaningful voluntary work and spending more quality time with our loved ones is the way forward. This might mean we have to downsize, eat out and drink less, buy second hand and be a bit more frugal - but, providing we can do this - it means that dream of being a writer, artist or having time to work for a charity is possible.

Making a few notes on the skill sets that we have and how many hours a week that we work is a good start. Then put down a portfolio of these skills into a CV that can be sent out or uploaded to a website. It's then up to us to be up-front and honest about our hours that we wish to do when we go for an interview and make the most of the new life that we've found.