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2017 was the year sh*t got real. I had been limping along, half-heartedly pursuing freelance writing and editing gigs part time for the last few years, unable to cut the umbilical cord to the corporate world. And then the corporate world cut me.

At the end of August my position at one of the largest physician services companies in the country was eliminated, ending my seven-year career there. After an acquisition followed by a merger that had begun to feel like a takeover, I knew there was a good chance I’d be given my walking papers. As talented colleagues were downsized, my role was downscaled. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, but enjoyed working with our physicians, gaining their trust and telling their personal stories. So, I hung on.

In situations like these, waiting can be a choice, or it can be a sign of catatonia. For me, it was clearly a choice, and then the decision was made for me. I won’t lie, I was shocked when I received the call. Having never been let go before, my initial reaction was tears, and then I started moving through Elisabeth Kubler Ross’s Five Stages of Grief – sometimes feeling all five at the same moment. I knew their decision was based on economics, and not personal, but it stung just the same.

I gave myself that first weekend to wallow, and on Monday I started pounding the digital pavement. I reached out to my LinkedIn network, informing them of my career change and letting them know that I had launched my own business. And just a quickly as my ego was bruised by the layoff, my contacts confirmed that I had indeed brought value to the industry. They offered to meet for coffee, send me RFPs, introduce me to the marketing communications decision-makers on their teams. I felt validated and vindicated. And a bit petrified.

As I’m wrapping up my first full quarter as a freelance writer and editor, I still battle with doubts and moments of sheer terror. But I love words, and I love – and excel at – helping companies communicate with their audiences. I’m excited when a client requests a strategy document. I delve into the research, and offer actionable steps that they can take to move the needle toward hitting their marketing, sales and communications goals. I rework tired copy and make it sing with new life. I’m getting a steady stream of work, some challenging, some fun – always fulfilling. I am doing my best work, and it’s under my terms.

Sure, I’ve made some mistakes this year, but by quickly turning a career tragedy into a career triumph, I feel more “me” than I have in years. For two decades I’ve pushed executives to use their authentic voice in their communications and speak to employees on paper just as they would in person. I’ve found MY authentic voice this year, and I am so very excited for what 2018 holds for my business.

I not only create content, I also consume it, a lot … on my laptop, phone, iPad, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, via email, at the coffee shop, on my couch, in the passenger seat, on the beach, on my deck. Lots of reading in lots of places.

I bookmarked a bunch of interesting articles in 2017, and here is just a taste.

• Ikigai: A Japanese concept to improve work and life from BBC
  Summary: Make three lists: your values, things you like to do, and things you are good at. The cross section of the three lists is your ikigai.
• David Sedaris on Keeping a Diary in the Age of Over-Sharing [Animation/video] from The Atlantic
  Summary: Diaries aren’t just for teenage girls. They can hold a trove of topics worthy of expanding and exploring in larger works, even for adults.
• 3 Surefire Ways To Jumpstart Your Creativity from Inc.
  Summary: Go beyond chugging coffee and cranking up the tunes and get a lil’ angry.
• How to Set a Work-at-Home Schedule from the Houston Chronicle
  Summary: Setting your schedule – and some boundaries between work and personal life – is crucial.
  • Bonus! How to Work from Home from The New York Times
    Summary: It starts with showering and getting dressed, and ends with playing with your dog.
• 8 Things Successful People Do To Look Confident (Even When They Aren’t) from Forbes
  Summary: Take care with #3, given recent events.
• When is Paid Promotion Right for Content? from Scripted
  Summary: Whether you created the content or are tasked with getting it read by your company’s audience, here’s the why and how.
• My Favorite Books to Sell Over 20 Years of Owning a Bookstore from Literary Hub
  Summary: I haven’t heard of most of these books, so now the list becomes a mission.

What articles did you bookmark this year? I’m always consuming, so keep me well-fed.

I love that technology allows me to work from any location on the planet, stream Stranger Things at Panera and buy the latest Anita Shreve book at 11 p.m. from the comfort of my bed – and my yoga pants.

What can be overwhelming, though, is the constant chatter in my in-box and social media feeds. To quiet the chaos, I’ve taken a few steps to better curate the content that I’m receiving. Here’s how:

1. In the wise words of Marie Kondo, unsubscribe to any email newsletters that no longer bring you joy. OK, so maybe those weren’t Marie’s words exactly but you get the idea. What was once relevant to your work or personal life may have outlasted its usefulness. Instead of deleting the riffraff each day, week, month, simply click “unsubscribe” and divorce the sender for good.
2. Facebook can be a time suck. You log on to check if the photos from your daughter’s latest soccer game have been posted and you’re bombarded by friends selling everything from essential oils to wrinkle cream, political posts and *gasp* fake news. And if you’re like me, you “like” a lot of business pages: new restaurants, island resorts that you’d like to visit, the Star Trek actor with the funny memes, the cabinet-refacing company you used four years ago. If you see posts from companies, groups or even people who no longer need or deserve your attention, “unfollow” themto create a more focused newsfeed. Unfollowing a friend doesn’t “unfriend” them, it just means you’ll need to go to their page to see their posts. And, if you see an ad in your stream that you’d rather not see, click the three dots in the upper right corner of the ad to adjust your advertising settings. A quick click can create lasting calm.
3. If you feel overwhelmed by the onslaught of tweets that you’re seeing on Twitter, a good way to create targeted news streams is to create lists. Creating a list essentially creates a channel. I’ve created a bunch of lists – writers, healthcare, politics, women’s issues, local, etc. – for the subjects that I’m interested in, and have assigned the Twitter accounts that I follow to one or more lists. Only want to see sports news? Create a “sports” list, add the sports figures that you follow to it, and you won’t see anything about the Kardashians (well, one can hope). And, going through the accounts you follow on Twitter is a great time to refine the list and unfollow those that are no longer relevant.

Your time is valuable. By using some of it to fine-tune your information streams, you’ll separate the wheat from the chaff and drill down to the news and entertainment (read: memes) that are truly meaningful to you.