Here is a picture of my cluttered mind....At the end of each day there is a moment when the accomplishments of that day are silently catalogued and listed in my head. Check... check... check for the mental list that goes on and on. It doesn't help that with each check, a new idea pops up that leads me astray.
Yesterday was one of those days that always makes me chuckle when people talk about how much they want to work from home and "take it easy". As always, I must admit to loving what I do, but easy? No.
We started out just before 8. There was snow falling, and even though the weatherman was only calling for a few inches, we knew if we didn't get down off the hill for provisions, there'd be no feast today. So - off we went, sans coffee and pre-shower, on a mission to get out and back while we still could. It's a pretty casual town, so we didn't stand out in our slovenlyness.
After getting back home, putting away the groceries, pulling myself together, and making sure everyone was fed and happy, I set off for the soap studio for a day of making product and packing orders. The weather had turned, bringing out the sun, so my sister called to say that I could probably make it down to her house (with a little sarcasm).
We toiled away making several kinds of lip balms, the Bug Off! sticks, Sinus Sniffing Jars, and wrapping soap. In between we discussed the finishing touches for the magazine and exactly how to promote the soon-to-be released new book. Oh - and how we were planning on getting everything done. That was a big topic of conversation too. She had a couple of tree customers while we worked, but we got a huge amount of stuff finished, packaged, and labeled.
I came home and fed the troups again. Thank goodness for large salads and leftover salmon.
Next on the agenda was finishing up the 18 swap items for a spring gardening swap on The Essential Herbal List. By about 9 last night they were finished and bagged, just needing labels.
After that, the Hiker's Releaf that has been stewing all winter long needed to be strained and bottled and labeled, all the while thoughts of a new idea for a prize drawing for the next issue and how exactly to accomplish that are swirling in my head.
Somewhere in there was laundry, dishes, some bookwork, packing orders for The Essential Herbal, answering emails, and some housework.
I woke up this morning and finished the labels for the swap items.
And this isn't the busy season.
So my advice to anyone who wants to work for themselves is this: choose something you love, because you're going to be doing it all the time. Week days, week ends, holidays, and the middle of the night. You'll push on when you're beat, because there is no time left.
Personally? I wouldn't have it any other way.
