Filmmaking, by most people, is considered a hobby. Something you do on the weekends or evenings after your day job. My mum still feels this way and waits for the day I give up Nexus and go back and complete that Business and Commercial Law degree I abandoned in my twenties. It's not just filmmaking though; art in general is considered a hobby, and the way artists are constantly asked to work for free across multiple disciplines speaks to the little respect art commands as a career.

So when filmmaking becomes your full-time job, and your hobby becomes your bread winner, this is a cause for celebration. Something we used to do for 'play' is now something we can do all the time. But all work and no play can be just as bad as no work and all play. Even though we love what we do, switching off from film and finding time to pursue other hobbies is crucial for work / life balance and finding a healthy way to de-stress.

There seems to be this mentality held by some creative people and even non creatives who are working the daily grind that being busy all the time means you are the most productive person on the planet. That your self-worth is somehow tied up with how damn busy you are all the damn time. The busier you are, the more packed your schedule is, the more proof there is that you are working much harder than your peers or colleagues. And this is what defines us as people.

I confess that I was one of these people around four years ago. I use past tense as now I'm more chilled and sometimes less productive than I have ever been. I still get stuff done but in healthy moderation. Even with my full time job, I get home and manage to smash out a couple of hours working on an investment deck or marketing for one of my films.

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