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?
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
First off, I just wanna say how glad I am to have found your blog a few days ago! I have found a wealth of great information here! Secondly I have never taken a scheduled Etsy/Blog vacation since I started all of this activity 2 years ago. I even try to do a little something with my site and my blog when we have a house full of company. The coming new year will be different! I am planning to close shop and blog for a while starting with the week of Christmas. I am considering 2 to 4 weeks off. I need some time to get things organized, fish some half started projects and set my new goals into action.
.-= Stacy´s last blog ..Things to Come… =-.