I haven’t got a Small Business Chat to share with you all today, so I thought I’d have a bit of fun and ask the editing and general small business community … what else do you do?
I’ll go first, shall I, then I’d love it if people shared in the comments. I’m looking for maybe surprising things you do outside of your job / business, whether that’s sport, crafts, volunteering or family responsibilities, whatever any of those things mean to you.
I’m an editor, proofreader, transcriber and localiser, and while my long-lasting hobby of reading All The Things (see my book review blog here) also keeps me sitting on my bottom a lot, my other hobby is running and all things to do with running.
So as well as running myself (I’m pictured here with running chums having done my third marathon, a DIY one), I’m a qualified Run Leader (so I can support groups of new and established runners), I’ve just qualified as a Level One Endurance Official (meaning I am working my way up through the levels of officiating at cross-country and road races), I regularly volunteer to lead runs and support beginners at my running club and I’m a committed parkrun volunteer. Keeps me busy and on my feet and outdoors, which is really important for balance in my life and keeping me socialised, too!
How do you keep balance in your life and switch off from your work responsibilities. Do share in the comments, and of course feel free to include your URL!
LibroEditing proofreading, editing, transcription, localisation 
Paula Bardell-Hedley
May 5, 2018 at 2:02 pm
My partner and I sold our business last year (after 26 years) and I don’t miss it one bit. We often worked late into the night and went without a holiday for years. We did latterly buy a lodge in Talybont (Mid Wales), which overlooks the sea, so we would (still do) go there with the dogs as often as poss. I have always been a keen wildlife enthusiast. In a previous life I was a Ranger in Llandudno’s Great Orme Country Park & Nature, where I was, amongst many other things, the official butterfly recorder for the area. I did a transect every week throughout the spring and summer, recording numbers and all the various species. I have remained a keen lepidopterist ever since then, so I suppose, odd as it sounds, butterflies helped me keep some sort of balance in my life!
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Liz Dexter
May 7, 2018 at 6:19 pm
Lovely, thank you! I agree that getting out in nature gives a wonderful contrast and balance. I’ve just had a lovely day of birds and a few butterflies in Dorset which was quite a day of stomping around but still did replenish the soul. That and the sea. So it doesn’t sound strange to me at all!
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Paula Bardell-Hedley
May 7, 2018 at 8:17 pm
Oh, I love Dorset. Many years ago I did several weeks of voluntary work at Arne RSPB Reserve. I lived in a little log cabin in the woods. It was a beautiful spot.
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Liz Dexter
May 7, 2018 at 8:20 pm
Oh that’s so funny – we were at Arne!
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Paula Bardell-Hedley
May 7, 2018 at 8:22 pm
Really? How wonderful. Perfect weather for it, too!
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Liz Dexter
May 8, 2018 at 6:45 am
Indeed! I friended you on FB so you can see the pics when I get time to post them …
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Paula Bardell-Hedley
May 8, 2018 at 9:45 am
Thanks Liz. I accepted your request.
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Krys
May 5, 2018 at 7:01 pm
I have been a freelance medical translator since 2001, fulltime since 2004. Currently I am also indulging my passion by doing a part-time MA in Ancient Egyptian Culture at Swansea University. It has been life-changing, since it led me from moving away from nine years of mostly depressing existence in the Rhondda (very much a failed experiment!) to sinking all my available money into a house in Swansea just minutes from the beach and just 30 minutes or so walk from the uni campus and the town centre. I love living here and don’t regret having emptied my bank account to do it. Doing the MA in addition to earning a living is tough even though I enjoy it. I’ve had to sideline most of my other activities, although I am participating in workshops run by Aber Taiko. Nothing like beating the hell out of a drum to make me feel better!!! Running and keeping fit generally is currently on a back burner due to work/study pressures as well as a bout of flu followed by excruciating back spasms for about a month, which still threaten at times. I’m also in a bit of an off situation maybe: I live alone, very much by choice, so do not have to adjust my life to somebody else’s needs. Also, while some jobs are tedious and cursable, when I hit a translation I enjoy doing, it feels more like play than work. In that sense, there is no such thing as work-life balance for me, because a lot of the time I find work more attractive than typical leisure activities, such as going to pubs/clubs, watching TV, listening to pop music, etc.
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Liz Dexter
May 7, 2018 at 6:09 pm
I can’t believe the amount you manage to get done as I know how hard you work on your Egyptian studies. I’m like you, in that I greatly enjoy my actual work, but I do find I need a break from it and to get out and about and active. I certainly promote reading and running over going to the pub!
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Don Massenzio
May 6, 2018 at 10:02 am
Great question. I am an author and I also had a day job. Back in January, the illustrious owners of my day job requested that I stop doing it. I had been editing books here and there as a side business to keep my skills sharp. Now I’m all in with a full time business to edit and format books without that pesky day job in the way taking up my time (and paying for my house and food).
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Liz Dexter
May 7, 2018 at 6:10 pm
Exciting stuff, I hope that goes well! I am always happy to have people to recommend for book formatting as that’s something I certainly don’t do. Drop me a line with a note of your editing specialist areas and I’ll add you to my links, if you’d like.
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Don Massenzio
May 7, 2018 at 8:27 pm
Sounds great. Thanks.
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Steve Dunham
May 7, 2018 at 12:09 pm
Besides being a full-time editor, I’m a volunteer hospital chaplain, and I write: a blog, screenplays, novels … So far my book about editing has been published, but I used to write a newspaper column, so I’m hopeful that my novels and screenplays will be used too.
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Liz Dexter
May 7, 2018 at 6:11 pm
A fascinating variety in your life – but being helpful all the way of course!
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lizipaulk
May 7, 2018 at 6:24 pm
I’m an editor at a large university, and along with that, I also teach students how to write for the media. (Lots of grading but v rewarding at times.) Spare time: I do fine-art photography (with occasional exhibitions), I read far too much, and I go to the gym. Formerly a runner and pro triathlete, but now relegated to the gym cardio due to bad knees etc. I also do volunteer work on the weekends (spurred on by our dumpster-fire administration), and I really like the DH and my pets. 🙂 Guilty admission: I do watch TV as well!!
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Liz Dexter
May 7, 2018 at 6:32 pm
Fabulous – I love learning all about what everyone gets up to! I like a bit of photography myself but will never do a triathlon – in awe of that!
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