For the last while I have been thinking about the fate of my current day job... I have been looking into options of going part time – or getting rid of it all together, to open up time for taking my creative business into that next level it is heading towards this year.
At the onset of 2010 I was hoping it would be the ‘turning’ year for Designs, and my plan on how to achieve it seemed to deliver results. I have entered and expanded retail, scheduled quite a few more art shows than last year, first of which already happened, and was successful. Of course, this growth came with its own demands, and more often than not I find myself running out of time, hectically trying to get through the most essential work at the office and home, putting other important long term goals straight onto the back burner.
Like, any upcoming show has turned my evenings, days off and weekends into sweatshop marathons, as I am trying to re-stock the sold items, buy supplies and do what I can to make the next show happen, before I am out of time. Adding new retailers also means more re-stocking work and time needed to accomplish that.
But I only have so much time... Sewing has occupied most of it dedicated for the business, and research, website building and scouting new outlets are simply impossible to fit in. Also, lately I have been cancelling almost every social event, ignoring every invite, if the get together with people takes longer than 1 hour and 20 minutes, as using that amount of time for other things will put even more pressure on my schedules during the week.
I realize, that at this point I should be working on building my own Internet site and create a continuous flow of sales through retailers and on-line. I feel like I could use some coaching on the latter subject... – none of which is achievable unless you put time into it.
The office day-job currently takes some 10 hours out of each of my day. In general, I have never been functioning too well in the 9 to 5 scenario, and never felt like I have found an mainstream occupation, which I would consider fulfilling.
Of course, I would be excited about each new job in its on-set, but once having learned it and overcome challenges and faced with mere routine of it, I lose interest and therefore have been frequently switching jobs in the past years. During my first years in Canada as a new immigrant, I’ve done some of the oddest jobs to survive and stay afloat under various restrictions and limiting permits, so I was even more pumped up to finally find a job, which provided continuous income and recognition.
But as time went by, faced with ongoing staffing and workload issues, also with the 9 to 5 reality, lack of creativity in the nature of work and subsequent interest and motivation loss, I found myself in the middle of my usual ‘over 1 year on the job’ crisis, calling for a change. Apart from taking out a lot of time out of my day, this day job is making me an outright unhappy person.
My urge has always been to work for myself on my own schedules and terms. I am very inspired by the established Indie businesses, that turned to be the primary source of income for the owners. I would like my business to be one of those one day, and I realize that I am on the right track, but it still needs more time and resources to grow. My time away is slowing its growth. Its growth, when happens, is consuming the remainder of my time and takes a toll on my daily life, house maintenance, fitness and even time for my family – both, here and abroad.
I do not have a firm decision about what to do next yet, and I am still very dependent on the income from the day-job. I will keep researching options and pick the best suited one to try to accommodate most aspects of this conundrum come summer... Right now my heart is leaning to cut 2 days of my precious week away from the office starting September.... So I can work on my web-page and the new collection.... And be happier...
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