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

what to give others ....

guidance, attention,
help (sometimes)
love, always.
criticism, never.


love always,
The Universe

(the universe is pretty smart)


* give it away print by brightside studio

thank you for not littering ..... or whining on wednesday

Dear Person Who Did This -->

you. made. my. night.

and I am stealing this idea for the trash can in hubby's shop.

We were having a bad day - I haven't blogged much about David lately, but today we had some big challenges and had to go to court with him -

I always get nervous in court as if the judge will suddenly pull out our 2009 tax return and demand an explanation of the deductions we took for Olive's doghouse - I still think staff housing is a valid business expense even if that staff has four legs and a mole patrol collar tag

plus I did my eyebrows this morning (yes, more grooming talk, sorry). The bad news? I’ll be spending the next several days looking surprised. The good news? I’m totally prepared if someone tells me a story with a twist ending. Also I saved 25 bucks.

fighting Etsy exhaustion part III - tips for one at a time or small batch makers

When my maker shops on Etsy took off, my small batch and one at a time makings model quickly became a challenge.

The time I used to spend creating something new became time spent reproducing/replacing things that had sold and eventually

(I blame Etsy's cunning little relist button)

to producing things that I had already sold.

This can create a situation where we are so focused on the outcome that we lose sight of how much energy we are investing and stop paying attention to how exhausted we've become.

“you can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned and you’re down to your reflexes. That’s where your roadwork shows. If you cheated on that in the dark of the morning, well, you’re going to get found out now, under the bright lights" ... joe frazier

(yes, I realize this quote is off-topic and may even make you more exhausted to contemplate it - but someone just sent it to me and damn it's good
Small batch (and one of a kind) makers need a tight grip on their time.

(something like the death grip Angry Bird addicts have on their handhelds)

1. Unless your item is personalized do not hit the relist button until your next item is made.

Simple thing - hard to do - saves lots of headaches

2. Instead of making 1 of your amazing little whatnots - if possible, make two, often you can make multiples without doubling your production time

3. Limit your time online - clicking is addicting

4. Set up your studio to make your making easier

I recently 'cleaned' my studio ... again ... to make things a little more Ford assembly line-like for myself, but found my hands always reaching toward the places where parts and doodads used to be - it has taken me some time to retrain my muscle memory, but I have been able to save time by getting my workspaces in line with my process.

and yes, you will probably need workspaces - plural -

- constantly taking things out and putting them away is a huge time waster - before I had a studio - I would set up things in drawers within a cabinet and then pull the drawers out onto the table to set up 'areas' for assembly, shipping, photography, etc and then just return the drawers to the cabinet when I was finished with them

5. Get on a schedule

I think, that just like your production area, your schedule needs to fit your life, your energy peaks, etc - this does not have to be a 9-5 thing, but when it's become a 5-9 thing all the time and when the things that you need to do to make your business and your life sustainable- like make time for new work - get lost in the shuffle, you need to get yourself a huge calendar and figure this out.

I like to schedule things in chunks so if something comes up I can move one chunk to another part of the calendar.

Confession - I do not have this all figured out and there are some chunks that have been moving around my calendar for ... weeks ... sigh.

6. Limit your one of a kind or commissioned work - make a production schedule and stick with it

(it is human nature to want things that are not just readily available to everyone - things that are made to order just for us, things we have to plan for - wait in line for; hopefully a cyber line, like your production schedule - things that SCREAM special)

Allowing yourself time for creative work - no matter how many of your amazing whatnots you are selling right now, everything has a life cycle and I can guarantee you that your whatnot will become a whatever at some point - allows your business to grow in a more sustainable way.

It allows you and your brand to be around long after your whatever whatnot has become yesterday's news.

7. Get help

The opposite thinking is that you need to strike while the iron is hot with your amazing whatnot - so farm out the production help that you can while you can - and be ready to move on when the iron cools.

part III continues Friday

(I promise it will be worth dragging your tired self over here to read - unless you have something really important or really fun chunked into your calendar - like a Belgian wax, maybe - yes, you read that right, I do not have my countries that start with B mixed up - it is really just a regular wax that you follow up with a waffle to reward yourself since it hurt so much, but it sounds almost as exotic as the gross kind)