Today starts the whirlwind of a weekend for me….I am always grateful for the beginning of the week so I can rest up especially this time of the year. Today is a my J.O.B. followed by a fun way of connecting with new customers. I am going to be judge at a local Halloween Costume event. So, I will get to meet some new people, share the gift of Thirty One AND have some fun. Who wouldn’t love a job like this right?
When I think back to why I wanted to work for myself – in the beginning, oh so many years ago, I thought it would be fun to turn a hobby into making money. Work when I want, do something I love which at the time was making premature baby clothes and the success would happen. I never really thought about the business side of things. This was my first failure. The dream to be my own boss never died…
I will skip some of the other self-employment attempts and jump to today… today, my reason for being my own boss is so much different. I want to be able to make my own hours, make money at something I love but I want flexibility to work when and where I want. This allows me to visit my daughter in North Carolina and be available when needed for family. My goal is to pay off debt – especially old credit cards from those days of being a shopaholic (a recent addiction that I have overcome).
My biggest problem or what I still struggle with is managing the work load and getting everything done that I want to get done in a timely manner. The joy of today’s multiple mobile devices allows us to work from anywhere but that is also a problem. We are no longer locked into one location but we have the flexibility to take our business with us. We call this being productive but is it? Does it allow me to continue to be a workaholic instead of learning to manage my time and my business.
I saw a blog on self-employed.com about strategies for “flexible strategies for the self-employed” but I am not sure if they work for everyone – especially those of us who can easily become workaholics.
Strategize Your Time – The fact that I am always trying to multi-task is sometime a problem. I find myself checking my phone for emails when I am waiting in line. No big deal when I am by myself or is it? The truth is, as a party planner, part of my business is to connect with other people and can I really do that when I have my head buried in my phone in the checkout line? Using my laptop while I am sitting in the living room with hubby, is sometimes a problem because as he says when I ask him to repeat something “you always have your head buried, so you never hear me”. OUCH! So, yes it is possible to “kill two birds with one stone” but be aware of your surroundings too.
Work Anywhere, Anytime – Inspiration can strike at any time. Are you able to leverage that motivation into something tangible? Keep this in perspective. Being inspired is AWESOME but working all of the time, is not. Make a note of things, take a picture but you don’t want to be remembered as the one who missed out on XYZ because you were working.
Access to Everything, Everywhere – I have the cloud since I am now a MAC girl but I am still trying to learn how to use it. So, I only have access to things that are on my phone or tablet or laptop depending on what I have with me at the moment. The ideal is to use with the cloud or Google Drive or something where you have the freedom to access what is on your computer, no matter where you are, near or far. Some days, I am grateful that I don’t have access as I am sure my family is too so that I stop working and treasure the moments with them.
Flexible Living – Don’t use work as an excuse to not partake in the joys of life. Say “yes” and then figure out a strategy to make it happen. Isn’t this the main reason we all wanted to have our own business…
So, what are your thoughts on being self-employed – the good, the bad and the ugly? Share them with us..
Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!
Hope Wissel 