"That sounds exciting! But, don't forget to take time for yourself as well - you have to take care of your most valuable employee, right? :D"
...and I've only just started to realise the importance of her words.
The week before last I was contacted on Tuesday to see if I'd like to take part in an event that Friday. Obviously, with my business being very small still, I'm not going to say no to any opportunities that come along, despite the fact that I only had a couple of days to prepare - and knowing full well that I had craft fairs booked for both the Saturday and Sunday of that weekend... 3 fairs in 2.5 days - no problem, right?
Friday
An awesome night: lots of fun (after getting un-lost), met a bunch of nice people and a couple of new business contacts - plus I had a few sales - so I reckon it was worth the stress and crazy panic on Friday afternoon. Yummy curry wrap for dinner, then home and in bed by midnight. Goodo!
Saturday
Up early for our trek to Tooting way down in Saaaaaaff London. Finding the place was lots of fun - venues tucked down little alleys seem to be a theme of this weekend. Once we got there Jms helped me set up my little booth before leaving me to it, but not before taking a quick peek around all the other stalls - where I fell in love with a pink floral plush stegosaurus made by Gemma of Molly Moo and Jessica Too. I couldn't resist - I named him Steggy and he sat on my stall for the rest of the day, amongst the glittery hair bows and hot air balloons. He loved it!
Alison came to visit me in the afternoon and helped me pack away at the end of the fair, which was lovely. She left me at Victoria and I tubed it back up to Norf London. By the time I got home I had a crazy high temperature and was shivering. I ended up going straight to bed for 3 hours before waking up around 9pm feeling super hungry - no surprise since I'd not eaten since that morning. Oopsy. The boy ordered me a pizza and that made everything better. I think sleep and food was all I really needed - and I slept like a baby that night, despite my 3 hour "emergency nap".
Sunday
Woke up mega early as usual - my 5am wake-up time is getting a bit ridiculous now. Had a bit of a read until it was a sensible time to get up, then it was off to the studio for a few hours of uber productive work before the next fair. It was a much, much quieter day than yesterday with not many sales at all - but a lovely chance to spend the day chatting with my stall buddies, and making swapsies - I got a gorgeous bunny purse from Caroline of Funk E Angels in return for a bunch of glittery bows, sooooo cute! I also bought a lovely Christmassy-smelling cupcake soap from Philly of Everyday Love. Such a lovely day, and much calmer than the rest of the weekend! Phew.
~~~
I've always believed that I work better under pressure, but this weekend was something else entirely. The fact that my body decided it needed to shut down somewhat on Saturday evening is a teeny tiny sign that perhaps I need to learn where my limits are.
Another weekend like that and I'm bound to burn myself out, so maybe I should be slightly more careful with which opportunities I decide to take up in the future. Saying yes to everything that comes along might be all well and good if I didn't suffer from stupid anxiety and panic attacks, but I can't risk my health for the sake of my business - and as Hanna so rightly said, since it is my business, I'm the one that I need to look after most, right?!
4 hellos:
Wow! That sounds super exhausting. I hope you're taking it easier this week to reload your batteries.
Every time I have to make a decision about taking on a time-consuming new project I think back on the time management (and self-care) advice my solution-focused therapy teacher gave us. She said that you should start filling your calendar with scheduling all of you me-time first, then all of your family-time, then all the time you need to stay healthy (exercise, sleep), and the time that's left over is for working. I think that's a very good principle.
Oh blimey, Saturday night sounds bad! It sounds very very much like a blood sugar crash, which would make sense if you'd not eaten since the morning. I keep Dextrose tablets in my bag for such occasions :) They are very good!
Alli xx
Hi Hanna - yeah it really was pretty hardcore. I think that idea is great - I will certainly aim to do that in the future!
Hi Alli - I think it probably was, it was just a bit of an extreme reaction to something so basic! Silly Vixie!
Look after yourself - I'm failing badly at that at the moment and feeling the effect. You always come first - without you there is no business and you're my friend so I want you to be okay xx
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