cote d’azur

… and loving it! Bonjour, friends, colleagues, travelers! Glorious summer has arrived, can you believe it?! Beaches, aperitifs, bbqs, colours, breezes and fun, fun, fun… Anyone else out there also finding it challenging to focus on work?

Although I won’t be heading to the Cote d’Azur at the end of the month (see my Cannes photo on the right) I am definitely getting ready for my next trip! I’ll write on the road, as I usually do, and promise to include some photos.

So how do you motivate yourself when the sun is shining and friends are calling? I try to remind myself that a lack of focus on work = no work. Being self-employed means you have to be self-motivated, right? So I do my best to restrict my family and social life to after work hours (sometimes more successfully than others). I dedicate a set number of hours every day to work, not necessarily week days, but an average number of hours per week. If I am not working on a project or assignment or an interpreting contract I use the time to do T&I related marketing and research. If there’s one thing I have learned in nearly 15 years of working in this business it’s that energy put in = results. Sometimes I get up very early, put in the required number of hours and then head out to play. If you’re more of a night owl staying up late and working past midnight might be your way.

I think in the end it doesn’t really matter how you do it, as long as you maintain your focus and put in the required energy for your business to thrive. Then you can really feel good about having fun in the sun!

Your Traveling Translator