The Feast and Famine Work Cycle of The Consulting Business

One month ago I was sleeping almost all day and hoping for a serious work. Now, for the past 2 weeks I haven't slept well and have lost all the weight I gained during the sleeping period. It's from one job/project to another. 

I heard it's a normal thing in the consulting biz world: to have periods of no work and then, suddenly, a period of too much work. And it's called the feast and famine work cycle.

image: crg-nh.com

It's not the first time I'm experiencing it since I went full-time since April 2014 but this is the first time I have become overwhelmed by it. The last famine was very severe and the ongoing feast is almost causing constipation. I haven't been sleeping well and losing weight. But the worst part is that I still don't meet the demand on my time. I get more job/project offers than I can do at once. My email inbox is filled with many mails awaiting my reply and I have been accumulating lots of unreturned phone calls. 

I'm beginning to worry about my health and cut down on the projects I'm working on. But it's hard when you've just been through a famine. When just a few weeks ago you were praying and hoping for work. And now that the work has come, and in an overflowing way, it's really difficult to turn away paying customers. They even don't get it and feel like you are too pompous. It's really hard adjusting and preparing for another feast -- famine work cycle.