Howdy! Today I want to share a little bit about what's been happening around here the past few months (aka, How I Fell Off the Face of the Planet), as well as how I found my way back down to Earth. Please pardon the temporary interruption to the usual yarn-infused posts. :)
Story time!
A few months ago, summer had just started, and I was facing the prospect of having three rowdy kids home all summer while I attempted to work my regular part-time day job AND run Storied Yarns. Every day was chock FULL of To Dos, and plenty of stress.
For my kids, the #1 thing they heard from me earlier this summer was, "Not right now - Mommy's working."
UGH! This was NOT how I wanted things to turn out.
When you run your own business, the To Do list is really never-ending. I struggled to find the time to work on the day job tasks, work on Storied Yarns tasks, and take care of my kids and my household. I was a hot mess; so much so that nothing worked out well, and everything felt like it was falling apart.
Lucky for me, a few months before summer started I made the decision to join Tara Swiger's Starship. In the Starship I've had access to classes and counsel from other creative business owners like me, and I've learned that I can change my business (and really, my LIFE) if I just sit down and take the time to explore what's working - and what isn't working - and map out the steps to make the changes I need in order to get back on track with where I want to be.
So let's go back to earlier this summer. My path from stress to peace basically went something like this:
1. Freak Out.
2. Break down, cry, talk to a very understanding and sympathetic husband.
3. Put 2 + 2 together to figure out that I'm working 40 hours a week to earn about 20 hours' worth of pay.
In case you were wondering, working full-time hours for part-time pay was NOT my idea of a good life.
4. Explore what's working, and what isn't.
5. Change schedule to focus on day job primarily, with Storied Yarns worked in around the edges.
6. YAY! Peace, yo!
Now, summer is over, and I follow a schedule that works for me: I spend certain hours of the day focused on the kids and the house, and other hours are reserved for work. I haven't turned into June Cleaver overnight, but most of the time I've got clean laundry, clean dishes, and clean floors - which is a lot more than I had back in June. I even get time for a break every day!
I'm not exactly happy that I had to get to such a stressed-out place to make these changes, but I'm glad for the changes nonetheless. That experience has helped me learn that I can handle anything that comes my way. I'm not 100% there yet (I'm still working to transition my existing day job, which is ending soon, to running my own business of a different kind for a day job income - more on that later), but I'm on the path to living the life I want - the life I choose for myself.
I'm still going with Storied Yarns, and I'm hoping that this new schedule will even give me more time to share my adventures here on the blog. I've already found that by not trying to make my business into a full-time job, I have a lot more fun working on it and it helps me feel more creative and inspired. I hope you'll continue to join me in my adventures, and to share with me through the comments!
Thanks for letting me share a little of my behind-the-scenes today! I'll be back later this week to show you what I'm knitting and what I've been cooking up in the dye pots.
NOTE: This blog post has been part of Tara Swiger's Exploration Party - a celebration of inner explorers, led by Tara Swiger of Explore You. You're invited to share your own explorations with us, too! And if you're thinking that there's an area of your business OR your life that could use a little exploration, Tara's new class could be just the thing you need. (Seriously, I don't normally recommend stuff like this, but the Starship has helped me SO much, and this class is like a mini-Starship experience. Also? She makes a lot of Star Trek references, has pink hair, and she's a knitter. She totally gets us.)
