Minions Wanted!

Today, I'm blogging from my sick bed. I haven't updated this blog since early September which doesn't sound like long but so much has happened over the past three months that it seems a distant memory.

You might wonder why I am blogging when I'm ill. Well, I have learnt something new about self-employment that I was already aware of when I started MMD but has become painfully apparent to me in recent weeks: there is no one to cover me. I sometimes forget, when I'm wrapped up in a portrait and only come up for air for a cup of strong tea, that I am in fact running a small business. Every aspect of this, including accounts, marketing and admin, is listed on my job description; there is no one else to do any of it. Yes, I could hire someone to do the accounts, for example, but I'm definitely not in that position and thankfully they currently remain fairly straightforward.

My point is, when life happens, which it does and chooses the most inopportune periods to do so, my work simply has to sit on my desk until I'm in a position to get back to it. There's no calling in sick; no co-workers to take on my workload; there is no pause button. That's scary. Let's go back to my present state of germ-harbouring (sorry!) Yesterday I woke up feeling pretty unwell after coughing all of the previous day. I still dragged myself out of bed, had breakfast, got dressed and got going on my To-Do list.

 I had a lot to do and, with Christmas lurking only a few weeks away, a short time to do it in. I packaged portraits, printed vouchers, answered emails, drew out a new portrait and ventured out into the bitter cold to pay a trip to the post office. By the time I got home, I felt horrendous. There was absolutely NO way I could do any more work. Today is even worse; I woke up early (because I was hot, not because I wanted to) and could only just manage to make myself a cuppa before falling back into bed. I'm not handling it well though because I am VERY much aware that I have so far lost a day and a half of work time. The work waiting for me sits heavily on my mind.

Back in October, my Nanna passed away. I won't go into details because those are personal to my family and I,

but it resulted in my having a fortnight off. I tried to get on with a portrait at the time but I wasn't focused and I didn't want to spoil the piece by forcing myself. Some things just have to wait. There was lots to arrange and extended family were staying with us, so I just took the time.

 I had worked out a schedule for my Christmas commissions and those 2 weeks obviously set me back. I got myself back on track after a while though and began to feel a little less pressured. Right now, I'm worrying every moment I'm not working. That's not healthy and certainly won't help speed up my recovery but it definitely comes with the territory of self-employment.

When there is nobody to cover you, there is a higher level of stress because you can't relax. I know I'll be able to make up the time; I just wish I didn't have to. I also know full well that I have yet to find the balance between work and my personal life. Maybe it isn't completely possible to find a perfect balance of the two. When I do find time for myself, say coffee with friends or a ride on my bike, I find myself feeling guilty for not working. Now, I wouldn't feel like that if I worked 9-5 in an office but, at the end of the day, I DON'T work in an office and my hours are not restricted.

 I'm lucky to be doing what I'm doing and that people continue to commission me; I never would have believed it two years ago. What would be extremely welcome though, is an "off'" switch! If you are in the same position as me, I would love to know how you handle this! Tips will be most gratefully received. In the mean time, please send helpful minions who know their way around pencils!

Getting organised

When my order book is very busy, as it is at this time of year especially, and my energy is almost entirely focused on my portraits, I find it particularly easy to let other aspects of my business slip. It's about finding a balance and I will gladly admit that balance isn't my strong point.

First and foremost on my mind recently has been my tax return which, to be fair, isn't due until January, but I really didn't want it hanging over my head longer than it had to be and I knew once it was done, I would relax that little bit more. Also, I'm off to Venice for a few days in a couple of weeks and I was aiming to have it done before then, since my return meant that Christmas would be EVEN closer and my panic would definitely set in!

Unfortunately, it isn't a half-day job (for me anyway; I'm not sure about others!) and I spent a long time printing out invoices and expense receipts until I had a huge pile of paperwork to go through which in itself took a whole evening. It made realise that I really should make a conscious effort to be more organised with my accounts. I guess it's one of those things you learn as you go with a small business. I keep all my receipts and I have an order book but I've decided that it would make my life SO much simpler if I kept up-to-date with these things; i.e. print out invoices once they are paid and the order is complete and shipped. 

Now that my tax return is done and submitted to HMRC, I definitely feel a teensy bit more relaxed and the fact that I've started a spreadsheet listing the status of all of my outstanding orders has helped me gain a sense of control. I've placed orders for packaging materials that were running low and started making notes for my website update in the new year, so now I feel completely justified in breathing a small sigh of relief.

It's amazing how much difference it can make to take a few days out just to get things ship-shape again. I feel like a weight has been lifted. Oh and I have to mention the beauty of writing a to-do list; it really helps! It's been said before my many but there really is a sense of immense satisfaction that comes with ticking an item of the list.

Now just to tackle my long list of portraits!

Keeping on top of things!

This morning I sat down with my order book and a piece of paper, with the intention of working out my current booking situation. I don't keep track of my orders digitally; I much prefer to physically write them down on to paper as I know from experience that computers can throw hissy fits at any given moment and then where would I be?! Plus, I'm old-fashioned and stubborn. I have a Filofax instead of a digital planner and I'm perfectly happy with that.

I've had a number of bookings from customers with March, April and May deadlines, what with Mother's day in March and for some reason, there are a LOT of birthdays in April! This is honestly one of the things I find hardest about my work-trying to work out when each piece needs to be started in order for it to be completed in time and also taking into account shipping, especially when pieces are going overseas. Thankfully, three of the bookings coming up are collection pieces, so I'm not under such  a tight deadline with those. It's just really tricky sometimes to work out time-frames.

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is this: "How long does it take you to draw each piece?" I have learnt that I have no straightforward answer to this. As I've said before, I don't work to set hours. Each piece I do is entirely unique so there are so many elements that could have an effect on the time it takes me. I recently did a portrait of a gorgeous tabby cat called Elsa; it was in the smallest size I offer (A5) but took me a lot longer than I expected, due to the tiny tabby markings in her fur, which required lots of pencil-sharpening and patience!

Elsa

I really should time myself with each piece I do, just so I can get an average timeframe, but I never remember! My process is very stop-and-start as I find it can be too heavy to work for 5 or 6 hours solid, although that has happened in the past and I really struggled with it. 

It's about this point that I'm starting to stress out, much like before Christmas. It's only because I don't have a definite idea of how long each piece will take me and I absolutely HATE not knowing and not being able to plan things exactly. I'm learning more and more about how to be disciplined and to avoid procrastinating too much so that I can make the most of my time.