A Week of Wading Through Treacle

Current Mood (weird postcard found in a junk shop)

Warning - this is quite a whiny blog post so if you’re not feeling sympathetic, go and watch YouTube videos of people falling off their skateboards and hitting themselves in the crotch. 

I’ll be honest – I’ve struggled this week. Work has felt more ‘work’-y than normal. I know I'm lucky to be self-employed, but sometimes it's like wading through treacle (metaphorically speaking; there wasn’t some horrendous flood of molasses in the kitchen).

A few things have been bothering me this week:

Feeling Ill

This week, I've been mostly half-deaf with tonsils like golf balls. Like a lot of people that work for themselves, I’ve tried to ignore the symptoms and power through, dosed up on painkillers. I worry what will happen if I have to take time off. I worry it’s something serious (I genuinely thought I had viral meningitis at the beginning of the week – a stiff neck and a rash is not a comforting combination). I’ve finally booked a Doctor’s appointment, by which time, the Law of Sod decrees, I will feel absolutely fine.

Too Many Short-Term Projects

I have great clients and enjoy my work, but a lot of it has been quite ‘bitty’ lately. Half an hour here, half an hour there. I want something I can really get my teeth into. I had a big project last year that should be coming around again soon, but until that happens I’m keen to get more of these kind of clients. The ideal would be a mix of both long-term and short-term projects. The question is, how to get them?

Wondering How to Promote My Business

I feel like I’m doing everything I can to market my business without spending money – lots of networking, social media, referrals. I’m just wondering if the time has come to put my hand in my wallet? There’s things I want to invest in, like a new website, but I’m wary of taking a chunk out of my savings. There’s also the fact that the ‘free’ things aren’t really free as they’re taking up my time, and time is money! It’s hard to know what to focus my efforts on with so many choices.

I know the answer to the last two worries is to set aside more time for business development, and come up with a strategy to widen my client base. The answer to the first one might be a shit-ton of antibiotics or a tall glass of Stop Your Whinging and Get On With It, we’ll see.

I gave a talk the other day to a room full of undergrads about considering self-employment as a career option. One thing I warned them about is feeling particularly relevant this week; when you’re your own boss, everything is on your shoulders. And for me this week, that privilege has felt more like a burden.

Goal for next week - to feel more like this awesome gentleman! (another junk shop postcard find)