Monday, September 1, 2014

Burnout and soulful wellbeing...

Beginning of this year, I started collecting reading material from marketing gurus and social media entrepreneurs,  with the intention of getting time to self study (still trying)... and I've joined many pages that give daily snapshots of ideas and advice.

Several times, crafty online sellers have repeated the term "burnout" in my social media timelines.
I kept thinking, burnout? Doing something I enjoy this much? Really?

Well...when its part of what you need to do to earn a living (or part of it), yea, burnout is real.
I have been on a downward spiral over the last 3 - 4 months (if I take an honest look at thigs).
Everything feels like its going wrong, the business' budget feels limited (and you keep getting the urge to splurge), running out of basics that seemed like you had just restocked on mere days before. And sleep...erratic,  nearly nonexistent patterns of "rest".

I am sure, very much so, that I am not the only self supporting crafty that feels any of this.
So I reached out on email to one of the social media entrepreneurs whose page I'm on and she waved a virtual finger at the list I sent.
There were no defined work hours (in a crafty business? Yes).
When I had a day job, Wonder Struck Inc had enforced work hours. And off days.

But how do you grow your business when you're defined by hours and days of work?
The answer I got was: How do you run and grow a business successfully when you cannot function to the best of your ability?
As humans we need sleep, we need rest, we need sunlight and air and healthy food and exercise.
No matter how many hours you work, if you're burnt out....nothing is going to go right.
If you're elastic about the systems and bidgets you've put inplace, nothing will go right.
When you pull at the threads of sanity and process, something is bound to give in.

So...with more experienced mentors that social media has made available to me (and others), I go back to the drawing board, go back to what I outlined amd work again from there.
Define my work hours, rest hours, off hours...

And all this in a run up to our first 2 markets of Spring! After a rather renewed soulfilled weekend, yup, I can handle it woth a fair amount of sanity.

How many other crafties don't allow themselves some off time, all in the self inflicted pressure that comes with having your own business? No matter how small, I think we all do.

So the word burnout is now officially in my work vocabulary,  and I felt what it was... and its not what I wanted Wonder Struck Inc to be about.
So, now to get back on track!

Go out and have a fantastic week crafties and handmade enthisiasts!

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