Slow Sales & Time Off

Even as we’re in the thick of holiday sales and the general slam of holiday life with family commitments, hectic day job schedules, and the partying of the season, I can’t help but think about the New Year.

Planning is one of my favorite things to do. I’m an INTJ. I love the big picture. I love the “what if.” I love milestones and opportunities to reflect on the past and plan for the future.

I can’t help but think about next year and how I want to do some things differently.

Let me tell you about September 2009. I got a call early one evening in mid-September. There was a medical emergency in the family and I needed to get to Florida to stay with my Dad the next day. I had no idea how long I’d be at Dad’s.

The good news is that I telecommute full time for my day job. As long as I have my cell phone and a fast internet connection, I’m good.

But I wasn’t taking my studio with me. I’d have my camera, but I wouldn’t have my flat files, my printer, my papers, my shipping supplies. I put my etsy shop on vacation mode.

I ended up staying in Florida a little over 2 weeks. It was sort-of a forced etsy vacation. And I loved it.

My etsy sales are up and down. Some months are busier that other months. I had been thinking that the slow times were sort-of time off. But minding a slow shop is a very different thing than closing shop and taking a vacation. The vacation was a real break. Some days I didn’t even look for convos. I didn’t worry about staying on top of emails. It was heaven.

My epiphany was that a slow shop is not a vacation. One of my goals for 2010 is to schedule a few vacations from my indie business activities.

I’m going to identify a few weeks to take off and get them in my calendar in January. I find that if I schedule things ahead of time and put them in my calendar, they seem like a done deal and I’m less likely to think of all the reasons I shouldn’t take the time off.

Do you schedule vacations from your business? How far in advance do you schedule your time?