It’s been a really lovely sunny day. The first of the daffs have managed to get halfway open and the birds have been singing their hearts out in the stillness.

I have a healthy to-do list on my desk to get through by the end of tomorrow, but I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to get out in the garden and do a bit of clearing. So, I’ve just had three glorious, guilt-free hours out there christening a new pair of gardening gloves and some shiny secateurs (courtesy of my thoughtful daughter at Christmas).

Being self-employed and working from home means that I can (unless I’m working on a tv contract) manage my time to suit me. A few years ago that wasn’t the case. Pre-Covid we lived in Edinburgh, I worked contracts in Glasgow and spent the best part of three-hours commuting every day on top of long hours. That had been the pattern for years and I was more than ready to find a better way of life.

I craved more time with my husband and my friends, more flexibility to do what I wanted. Change is never easy – but we finally managed to do something we’d talked about possibly doing for quite a while; we sold up and found a new home in the Scottish Borders. While I’m very aware not everyone is in a position to make such a drastic life-shift, I also know that we can all find attainable goals, maybe smaller, more subtle adjustments to what we already have, that can make a huge difference.

It’s beautiful here. I’m looking out of my office window where I can see swathes of snowdrops, the odd group of deer passing by and rabbits pottering about. I feel very lucky to have this, but it didn’t just happen by itself. It’s the result of knowing I wanted change, creating a vision (for both me and my husband) and finding a way to make it a reality.

These days my television work and coaching, both of which I can do from home, sit neatly alongside each other. I’m much more content and less stressed. It’s easy to think I should perhaps have done it years earlier, but I really believe that it all came together at just the right time. Life has a habit of doing that.

Being out there in the garden gave me time to think. The hours of fresh air and exercise have been energising (I might even treat myself to a Thursday glass of red this evening) and it’s just a reminder really that it’s ok to deviate from the plan sometimes. I’ve only made a tiny dent in what needs to be done in my beloved rambling garden, but I’m happy.