fighting Etsy exhaustion part lV - bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free - wait, is that me or the Statue of Liberty - it's hard to know- we both wear flip flops in the winter, have a sore right arm and really need to sit down

8. Do less

Figure out what isn't working and get rid of it.

80% of your money almost certainly comes from 20% of your makings - what can you streamline? what can you dump?

Multi-tasking is yesterday's news - it doesn't work. What we need is to set an intention and focus on it like a laser beam. Even if it is just so we can experience the energy of completion - that's powerful stuff.

We know the power of niche thinking with our physical makings and then we scatter our mental and physical energy all over the place and exhaust ourselves.

And we need to pay attention to what we are telling our subconscious minds when we hold on to stuff that isn't working.

9. Change how we do things, not what we are doing

Sometimes things are actually working, but we get so tired and overwhelmed we think we have a product problem when what we have is a process problem.

(many creative babies have been thrown out with the dirty bath water - stuff gets dirty, life is messy - change the water, not the baby - unless of course that baby really needs changing - but that's what dads are for)

10. Get clear on what we want

I had a friend tell me about a big opportunity not that long ago and I said "God, I wish I wanted to do that" because I knew I should want to do it, but I was just too damn tired at that moment to even want it.

Once we have put a little bit of space between us and "tired" we need to get clear on what we want - not doing things because we should want to do them will open up a huge space in our lives to fill with the stuff we really do want.

And if we reach the point where we are just too tired to want anything, except maybe a nap and a Nook - well, this is just not the time to divide the "should wants" from the "wants" - take the nap, read your Nook and decide later.

Now the very best model of how to sell things on Etsy (in my humble opinion) is the make it once and sell it again and again model.

(think photographs, illustrations, ebooks, advertising on our blogs, knitting patterns - you get the idea)

There are ways to bring some of this into any maker model though and I'm going to talk about that next week (or possibly the week after - when the giveaway will be back, too - yay! - since I have a couple large orders to get out next week and may take a blog break)

As a David update for anyone following his saga - he is still living with us, most of hubby's family has fallen away (possibly all of his family- we will see who cancels next week) and the truth is - although part of me is resentful about it - I totally get that they have been through this before and it is exhausting.

Hubby knows a wonderful young man who also suffers with schizophrenia and is on some great medication (a new medication that he says no longer makes him feel like he is inside a shell) coming to dinner this weekend. We are hoping to edge the conversation toward David seeing this man's doctor because David has refused all mental health help. I have been advised by someone from psychiatric services that it's not illegal to be "crazy" - that we can't force someone to seek help unless they are clearly a danger and I certainly don't want to live in a world where just anyone can be called crazy and locked up

(because I would clearly be living in a world that consisted of a padded cell and some kind of rash-generating restraints if a mental health professional got hold of my blog - I think I should make some of my posts self-destruct - ha!)

but to require someone with a disease that causes the brain to not be able to recognize the disease exists to "seek" help is crazier than schizophrenia.

In the meantime we are using words like brain trauma (since David has had multiple) and ADD to try and coax him to a psychiatrist. It is like walking on eggshells a firey bed of hot coals since his ability to instantly be aggravated and angry and avoid conversations he doesn't want to have is unequaled - also his memory for what happened in the early 80's, before he got sick and before he started drinking.

(since I can't remember what happened last week or last night this is totally amazing to me and has me looking for an 80's trivial pursuit championship we can get him involved with).

Have a wonderful weekend everyone - spend a little time doing less!

*loving this no one else could fill your shoes tee from Jordan Grace Owens