On relaxing

I've been working very, very hard recently.  Weeks and weeks of 6 thirteen hour days in a row then one day off.

As a freelancer it's incredibly tempting to accept every bit of work offered to you because there's always a little voice in your head saying, 'Take it whilst it's there.  Next month may be quiet'.  It's gotten to the point, however where I feel I'm close to burn out so I decided that I had to have some time off.  So I turned down work over Easter (eek!) and now I've got seven blissful days off.

I've been looking forward to it so much that I was surprised to find myself, pacing round the living room this morning going, 'What now? What should I do now?'  Yup, I've forgotten how to relax!  I'm so used to meeting deadlines, having to be somewhere, working like the clappers to deliver a show on time that I've actually forgotten how to take it easy.

So I intend, this week, to rediscover the slow life.

• Sit and read a book with Radio 3 on in the background.
• Go to a film on my own.  Probably the Yves Saint Laurent film.
• Catch up with friends.  I have an old friend from high school who I haven't seen since we came over to London together more years ago than I care to remember.  We've been trying to arrange a meet-up for about six months now and I'm ashamed to say that it's always me who blows out because of work.  
• Bake.  I love baking but it's time consuming so I haven't baked for ages.  I want to try and make a good & gooey chocolate cake.
• Work my way through the box set of Breaking Bad.

How do you relax?