Figuring Out Life After the Corporate World
A Month and a Half into Freedom:
I have to admit, I've been avoiding sharing post exit thoughts for a while now. Partially because life has been busier than ever, partially because I'm pretty sure my feelings toward being my own boss are different every hour of the day.
I could sit here and talk about all of the amazing qualities about being an lady boss (some of the obvious being choosing what I work on, a flexible schedule, and a lot more time with the hub), but I think it'd be more helpful if I shared some of the surprising things that are taking a bit to get used to.
1) Staying on a schedule is hard
When I left the corporate world, I had this vision in my head that I'd pop out of bed well rested and ready to hit the gym by 7:30am. I'd then pump out a great workout, get ready, and start rolling on my day by at least 9. That's still my goal (and not unrealistic!) but I've realized that the excuses didn't go away just because clocking in did. I don't mean this out of laziness either!
It's still super easy to decide to work instead of taking time for self care. It's super easy to want to stay up late for extra quality time with my husband (he's a third shifter- talk about hard schedule!!) And it's especially easy to get wrapped up into entertaining and socializing with all of my amazing friends that I haven't much time for over the last year.
Socializing = Good, allowing myself to sleep in and skip the gym because I wanted to have another drink- not so good.
2) I'm still working late into the night
Half of why I dove into running my own business was to have more normal working hours. If anything, I think working late has gotten even worse. I'm at a point where I need to admit to myself that I have an addiction to burning the midnight oil.
I'm still fighting this feeling of guilt if I take time off if it's not spent with my family. What's worse is that I don't take off the time off that I promised myself that I would even after working late into the night. I find myself doing this because there's always SOMETHING I could be doing to better the biz. Whether that's listening to a podcast, reading up on biz skills, accepting a emergency project, updating my website... the list goes ON AND ON.
A piece of great advice a dear friend gave me is:
Focus on what can make you money today.
If I was better at working on the hottest task rather than the latest fire I set, I'd be a whole heck of a lot more productive. The truth is, sometimes the money maker isn't the fun task on the list. Reality check! Being your own boss is still a real job- meaning there are still sucky parts that take110% of your motivation to complete.
Currently ISO a bit more focus and a less is more attitude.
3) Trying to flex around my husbands weird schedule isn't as easy as I thought it'd be
I'm coming to terms with the fact that taking 2 work week days off in a row like I originally dreamed of isn't going to be possible (let's be real, I need to work on allowing myself to take ONE day off). My clients work during the work week, which means I need to be available to communicate with them. That said, there's nothing wrong with setting boundaries and committing to an odd schedule- yes, even including email.
I don't think any less of the hair salon that takes Tuesday's off. Why should someone think less of me for having Thursdays off?!
I had a chance to spend a few days up north around the fourth of July and it really hit me how much taking time off can be a good thing. I didn't have access to email for 2 days, I got a little R&R, and I came back totally ready to work. The best part? I made more money this month despite the time off.
Why is it so easy to convince ourselves that working more automatically equals a bigger return?
4) I find myself accepting jobs that I'm not totally sure make me happy
Alright, if you know me, you probably already know my response to this frustration. Scream it loud for the people in the back:
I need to have a little more faith!
I have the retainer, interest, and skills, yet I still accept jobs that aren't ideal. It's one thing to accept a job out of need, but another to accept one out of fear that something better won't come along. This cycle is what causes the long hours, a distracted mindset, and commitment to extra tasks that make it impossible to keep a schedule. The bottom line- God will provide, and life will be good.
5) It's hard to get out of the house
Every week I find myself saying that I'll work at a coffee shop, and then the week passes and I didn't leave my house except to walk the dog, go to the gym, or to buy groceries. It really hit me the other day when I went to the bank and I found myself jealous of the bank tellers because they were all dressed up and had somewhere to be.
I'm working on finding a balance somwhere in between "lazy hair, don't care" and "look good, feel good". I'll let you know when I figure out what that balance is.
6) My dog doesn't like to snuggle as much as I think she should
My biggest pet peeve- now that I'm home so often, my dog is starting to think that she's too independent to be in the same room as me 24/7. What about my needs, Miya?!
Just rude.