Stormy

Hey guys. How are you? I'm exhausted. There. I said it. I've been so busy trying to do all the things that I really think I've overextended myself. I'm really trying to get my little homesteading business up and running but I'm not sure how it's really going. I'm teaching classes but not really selling anything. I have my products in two retail locations and I'd like to do more festivals but there doesn't seem to be any down time to research and apply. I did apply to the Taproot Makers Market so I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one. But let me be real honest. I'm tired. I'm tired of the hustle. I'm running all day and not getting enough sleep. I know. This is what the hustle is about. But I'm doing it solo. Everything you see or read that I am doing. I'm doing it by myself. The garden is a mess. I still have things to plant. Like in containers in the spot where they need to be planted. But just not planted. I have other homestead plans that need to get implemented but aren't. There's not time. I have classes to write and conduct. Those are definitely getting done but it takes time. A lot of time. I put everything into those classes. I take all my own pictures for each class. Edit them. Add them to my presentation. Make notes on my presentations. Purchase the supplies. Put it all together and then conduct the classes. It's a lot. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to do them. I really like the classes. I like sharing my knowledge. I like meeting new people (which is weird since I'm truly an introvert inside. I just don't always show it. Small talk is HARD). I'm also working at least 2 jobs in two completely different locations, 3 if you count the classes I'm teaching. 4 if you count the work I do for the fishing lodge (mowing mostly).

But you guys. I feel like I'm giving and giving and working and working and there's been no self care. I've taken a moment here and there but nothing to really help me relax and recharge. I hit a wall today. I'm done. I can't add anything else to my August (and August hasn't even started yet!). So here's my plan, and I think it's a sound one. I'm going to keep with my commitments that I've already booked--which include 2 classes, commissioned knitting (done by the end of August), fair entries (fun, I know, but still a commitment), a couple of get together's with friends (again, fun, but still commitments), and working one of the two jobs mentioned above. And that's it. I'm saying no to everything else for August. I. just. can't. I need some down time. I need some time to really assess the homesteading business. I feel like I am pouring everything into it, financially, physically, emotionally, and I need to step back and assess. I need a business plan. A marketing plan. I can't keep putting things in to it without assessing how things are going. So I'm taking some time away. Maybe from the blog, maybe from social media. Or at least not worrying about it. That's the other thing. I am trying to market the business and my homestead (aka the blog, webshop, social media, etc) so much so that if I can't get to the blog, webshop, social media, it makes me anxious. That's not what this is supposed to be about. It's supposed to be fun. Hard work, yes. But also fun. And it's just not. Not right now. July has been one of my busiest months yet but I can't really say for sure that it was 'successful'. I need some down time to evaluate what worked, what didn't, how to proceed. To recuperate, relax, sit by the pool, work on projects around the homestead.

By the end of August I hope to have a good handle on how to move the homesteading business forward. Drop things that aren't working, add things that I can manage, and keep doing what works. I think that's a fine goal. So I'm putting this out there. I'm hoping it will help keep me accountable to saying 'no' until the end of August. I have so much paperwork to do and I want to spend time with the family and on the homestead. That's where my August needs to be. So you can see things are 'stormy' so I gave you one picture of that storm! We'll see a rainbow at the end of the storm. I'm positive about that!