A Day in the Life of a New Barefoot Writer

It’s Tuesday, September 1, 2015 — my first official day as a Barefoot Writer.

Two weeks earlier, I gave my notice to my employer of almost 8 years, letting him know I no longer required his services (i.e., his paycheck). He seemed surprised, mistakenly believing that I needed him more than he needed me. What he doesn’t know is that I’ve been seriously preparing for this day since early 2014 … and the fruits of that labor have finally paid off.

So, on that first day, I get up around 5:00 a.m. with my husband Tom, just as I’ve been doing for the past year, in preparation for my new life. I’ll generally write until around 9:00 or 9:30, and then it’s off to my daily Bikram Yoga class.

And here’s the first perk of being a Barefoot Writer: I get to fit my work in around my life, not my life around my work.

All those years of having a J-O-B meant I couldn’t get my nails done at 3:00 in the afternoon or go to yoga at 10:00 in the morning — those are the types of activities you have to do on your lunch hour, after work, or on the weekends when you’re a 9-to-5 slave.

After yoga, it’s back home to grab some lunch; maybe check my emails, do some research for a project, or work on my marketing. It still hasn’t hit me yet, the realization that I’m running my own show, but I have a feeling I’ll become accustomed to the concept pretty quickly.

Mid-afternoon, I’ll write for a couple more hours and call it a day around 3:30 or so, when Tom arrives home from work. I’ll prepare a nice dinner (which I now have the time to do), then I clock out for the rest of the day. Maybe we’ll play a late round of golf at the local city course or take off for a ride on our 2007 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic …

Then, as we approach the end of the year in Michigan, it’s time to make plans to leave another brutal winter behind and spend a month or so abroad … maybe Panama, Ecuador, or Belize; we haven’t decided yet. For me, it doesn’t matter, because as a Barefoot Writer, I can continue to work anywhere, with my laptop and a reliable Internet connection my only required companions.

Wherever we decide to call home for a few months, I’m thankful that we now have the financial freedom to make that choice.

And who knows? Maybe this is the year we’ll decide not to come back to Michigan at all.