Lately I haven't been very inspired to write blog posts. Things have a way of getting a little overwhelming when you're trying to figure out how to build a business, market yourself without annoying - or worse, boring - your network contacts, figure out how to get things together for a craft show, and make the work itself. Much less deal with all the other distractions of life - family issues, travel, psychotic dogs.... yes, Mr. Buster is still insane. But we love him.
Especially since finding out that I had been accepted to a craft show in August, The Watermelon Festival, I have had to break down my days into a schedule to help me use my time more wisely. I'm sure I will have to stop sleeping soon, but for now I can get in a little. But it helps to see it written down in front of you, so you can see where you are wasting time, and where you can be more efficient. So I thought I would share my daily schedule here:
6am - wake up, feed Gabardine (our sweet 18lb kitty who, after 2 years of calling "her" my pretty pretty princess, we just found out is a boy. oops.), stagger downstairs and sit with Mark while he eats breakfast, make sure his lunch is packed, etc.
6:30 - take Buster for a good walk (because he is neurotic and will have an absolute fit when Mark leaves for work if I don't distract him in this manner.)
7:00 - have coffee and a bite of breakfast while I try to plan out what needs to get done today, make lists, play the rope game with Buster, try to prevent Buster from eating the things in the recycling bin, remote control, etc; sometimes I go running or otherwise work out, but not as much lately, tsk tsk.
8:00 - shower, get dressed, more coffee, Buster settles down to nap until Mark gets home. (yay!)
8:30 - computer stuff: check email, facebook, blog list, sometimes do a blog posting, marketing research, check etsy, update calendars and dry erase board lists of daily, weekly, and I'll-get-to-them-soon tasks.
10:00 - start on the physical work for the day - this might be making work, photographing work, editing photos, posting new work on etsy and my website, packaging and post office run if I've sold something, dealing with other tasks at hand (for instance, yesterday, it took me 2 1/2 hours to deal with buying a plane ticket to Colorado for the CoMA Conference - I'm traveling with NC Black Co. to work the vendor room doing demos and selling tools. By the way, don't EVER use cheap-o-air to try to buy plane tickets. Cheap doesn't work if the flights they "offer" don't exist or are already sold out. I probably could have done this in 30 minutes had I gone straight to orbitz or something. And it was only like $50 more than the cheap-o place "offered." Lesson learned.)
12:00 or so - break for lunch (my poptart is long gone at this point)
12:30 - back to whatever I was doing or the next task at hand
5:00 - snack and tv break with Mark
5:30 - check email and web things again, wrap up loose ends
6:15 - take Buster, who is now wild again, to the dog park
7:15 - cook and eat dinner (I love cooking and trying new recipes, so sometimes this runs a little later)
8:00 or so - if I cook, Mark cleans up the kitchen - best.husband.ever! so I'll check email and do web things one more time, other administrative tasks - for example, last night I did an inventory of all the items I have so far for the up-coming craft show.
9:00 - time to relax with Mark and the pets (if Buster will settle down and let us chill - a peanut butter-filled Kong often helps with that - a glass of wine often helps me)
So, yeah, I have pretty full days. And some days I do have to attend to domestic duties, which I usually throw in pre-lunch. You know, errands (we gotta have food), chores (the laundry doesn't do itself, nor does the pet hair miraculously vanish off the stairs... too bad.)
Now personally, I would prefer to get up about 8 and stay up until midnight-2am or so (In college, not once did I ever go to bed before 2am, and often I was in the metals studio until midnight - then we'd go out for a drink or something - ahhhh, college...) But that just doesn't work these days. Things have to be adjusted. But I will say, I do love working for myself. For the most part, that is. Sure, it's totally stressful and frustrating at times, there's not much money in it (yet!), and it takes a lot of discipline to keep myself on track and not get caught up in that silly movie that comes on tv when I sit down to have a bite of lunch, or to get distracted in Target or Trader Joe's on errand day and fritter away a few hours.
But it's worth it.