Time Out!

We all need some down time from the busyness (a word?) of everyday, whether it be reading, knitting (you’ve seen my attempt in a previous post!), gardening or even sudokuing (maybe a word?) it’s good to just do something because you want to not have to. It helps us recharge and relax and clear our minds, even if only for a short time. I know with running my own business it can be all consuming, I eat, breath and sleep Rainbow Designs (although the eat parts not so bad!) and find it so hard to switch off. This is not a productive way to run a business as I find I end up going round in circles - a break is the only thing that helps, even if it’s just 10 mins flicking through my latest copy of Notebook. Weekends are another time that can get over run by ‘the business’ especially with the computer only a few metres away. It is so easy to sit down ‘for just a few minutes’ and find half the day has disappeared, I’ve done that many a time and then later on think ‘what did I actually achieve’? Now I know, sometimes it is unavoidable working long hours including weekends but you need to make sure it doesn’t become the norm or else you’ll burn yourself out.
Taking time out should be a permanent part of your day, like doing orders, ringing customers, paying bills, they all need doing to keep your business running smoothly and your sanity in check!

Tha Calm before the storm

More often than not the days/weeks leading up to a special occasion (this one being Father’s Day - Sunday 2 Sept) mean racing madly around getting extra everything. Extra packing tape, extra boxes, extra gift tags, extra lollies, extra post bags, extra labels - I think you get the idea. It’s now time to be a mind reader and try and pre-empt what gifts people will be ordering and ensuring there will be enough stock when the orders do start flooding in (please, please). A final check of everything and a last minute flurry of making up more packing boxes before everything is ready for the ’storm’.
The first lot start coming in so I get to work packing them up and carefully organising them in ‘date to be sent’ order - phew, that lot done, time to make up more packing boxes, change the printer ink, refill the paper, empty the garbage bin, find another pen because the inks just run out and a quick phone call to our supplier to check whether they have Freddos and licorice in stock (must be a dad thing)!
I’ve got myself so organised this year that I’m now so up to date I’m driving myself crazing and visiting every blog, forum and online shop I’ve ever put into my favourites and wasting so much time!! Plus it’s making me nervous that my ’storm’ has already hit and it was just a slight breeze but never fear as the moment I type those words in come some more orders - yipee. The sun’s shining but the storm is still raging 
It helps to be organised but it can also be distracting, giving you tunnel vision and forgetting all the other elements of your business that still need looking after - paying the bills, answering the emails, sending out your newsletter, chasing up stock orders, following up on advertising opportunities, overdue accounts, dodging telemarketers……
Did I say there was a ‘Calm’??