So in the spirit of being accountable to myself, I spent some time today thinking about my year-long goals, and my word of the year: simplify. January is wrapping up, and I can’t believe it’s gone by as fast as it did! It was a WHIRLWIND. I booked four new CIE brides, spent time creating floral proposals, executed our Norfolk Botanical Gardens styled shoot, and managed the day to day details of CIE. Not to mention, I have been very busy at my full-time teaching job, taking an intense online class for an additional certification and handling my students at school during final exam/SOL time. So this month, I’m pretty sure I have epically failed at SIMPLIFYING.
Running your own business while working full-time can be a challenge, and I definitely know I need to be better at setting some boundaries and prioritizing what’s important and what’s not. Emailing is not instant messenger. I don’t need to pressure myself to blog 5 times a week. Scrolling Instagram is a horrible excuse to not spend time with my husband and family, and responding to texts while I’m in the middle of a conversation is just rude. Ugh unplugging and simplifying can be so hard!!
This month, I have been running on empty fumes and way too much caffeine, and I need a break!! I am going to be more intentional about putting down the cell phone, snuggling with my husband, and enjoying a glass of wine and relaxation! I’ll be writing out a few monthly goals, both personal and professional, and my hope is that these goals will help me be more intentionally focused with my (small) amount of free time! I’m definitely starting to understand the struggle of “work-life balance”, and I want to more clearly define my boundaries, both with my teaching job and with CIE.
I also want to simplify my small business workflow- does anyone have any tips or tools they use to synchronize their day-to-day workflow, help with their website management or enhance their client experience?