Wow it’s hard to believe the month of May is almost past. I’ve been back from my 12 day Hiatus for just over a week now. I highly recommend it to everyone running a small business. I learned quite a bit about myself, my business and the life I want and need. My husband complained that I was working harder during those 12 days than I did for the last 6 months. I was working at my kitchen table (those chairs are extremely hard by the way!) , working on my business. Getting caught up, attending conferences, doing online training and general administration. I enjoyed the majority of it. Here’s what I learned during this time:

I learned that nobody is going to die if I don’t return an email, immediately after I receive it.

I learned that I can’t rely on technology to do what it is supposed to do when it is supposed to do it.

I learned that I don’t have to pick up the phone on the first ring every time. Let it go to voice mail.

I learned that having a break (and leaving the office) for lunch improves my mood and my production level.

I learned that I love learning new things. Especially in an online video format.

I learned not to leave your books for 6 months at a time! A little bit everyday is much better and less overwhelming. I also leaned that having a bookkeeper working 3 feet away from you is a blessing.

I learned that taking an afternoon off once in a while to pick up my kids from the bus is very rewarding for all of us.

I learned I need to ask for help and not feel guilty about it.

But most of all I learned that I love my business and want to see it grow. I love my clients and I love seeing them happy with their final product.

I will be making some subtle changes over the next month or so to my business, most you won’t even notice, but I will. Thank you to all my clients for your patience while I was “away”

Have you taken a break from your business? did it help or hinder you? Did you learn anything from it?

My Ideal Day

I am in the middle of reading a book (surprise, surprise) about becoming wealthy, specifically a wealthy freelancer. The wealthy freelancer is not about gauging your customers and working till you drop dead to give your children a great inheritance. It’s also not a myth as most freelancers, parents & in laws seem to believe. It’s about taking control of your working habits, and changing how you prioritize, to have the clients, income & lifestyle you want and deserve.

In the first chapters of the wealthy freelancer the authors, Steve, Pete & Ed (I feel like we are on first name basis from listening to the audios, reading the books,watching them on YouTube and seeing their tweets on twitter) suggest I write down my ideal day. Apparently this will give me a good idea as to where my priorities are and what future goals I should put in place.

Goal setting is one of the 12 secrets to achieving wealth in finances as well as lifestyle the book says. I see goal setting as more of a resolution I made at new years I have no intention of keeping. So I thought. Fine. I will work through these exercises and see what happens… The first one: “write down your ideal day”. Now I know what you are thinking. A lazy day in the sun by the pool, masseuse on one side, cute cabana boy on the other, serving tequilla induced girly drinks with pretty umbrellas all day long. Well, they tell me I’m not supposed to write that down. I’m supposed to write down an actual “reality” driven day. So here goes.. here is my Ideal day.

Reality sets in about 5:30 am with my husband getting up to head to work in my house so let’s just adjust that a bit. 6:30 am…. nope, 7:30… 8:30….9:30 . Ahhh there we are 10:30 am. This is the perfect time of the day for me to wake up. I’m a night hawk and you will see why by the end of my day the necessity of getting up at 10:30 am.I’m also a sleeper. I need min of 8 hrs sleep to function.

I once had a design professor that said no true creative person gets up before it’s legal to have a gin & tonic for breakfast. Hence design class did not start until 11am for the 2 years I was in college. And there lyin the habit forming practice.and the fact that I think I had a vampire for a room mate.

10:30 awake & Yoga for an hour or so, shower – 20-25 minutes of pure 120 degree hot water bliss. (reality = 4.5 minutes with a 3 yr old trying to shave my legs for me) on to a hot green tea with a fruit plate & yogurt for breakfast at my kitchen table reading a book for 20-30 minutes or so… reality: 8:30 am Cold tea, leftover congealed cheese whiz on cold burnt toast my son insisted he had for breakfast but didn’t eat. #1 one son late for bus, #2 son on his second set of clothes for the day cause he tried to give the cat a shave in the shower too. so Ok. get dressed (without having to look through 6 baskets of clean unfolded laundry for a pair of semi matching socks) do my hair in peace and quiet and out the door to work at my state of the art office stacked with imacs, ipads and 26″ monitors with 6 employees who unlike me haven’t set goals and have been there since the crack of dawn.

For the next hour or two I would organize my day make sure everyone had things to do, call a few clients, write a blog post, return some emails and just make sure everything is running along tickety boo.

Around 2 ish I would have lunch with a friend or colleague or star client. or maybe just by myself down by the river with a good book. Realty is a half eaten bagel leftover from yesterday or greasy take out from Marty’s bar & grill across the street or nothing at all. It’s pretty bad when I don’t even have to say who’s calling or what I actually want when I call over there.. they know. And it will be ready in 10 minutes. And if they are really feeling sorry for me they will walk it across the street too.

So a relaxed lunch thoroughly enjoyed, back to the office to work on my star client stuff that I enjoy and have kept for myself, put out minor fires that me, being the linchpin of this company can only solve and meet with my team to brainstorm or see what their needs are from me.

3:15… pick up the kids from school or meet them from the bus, take them home, or to an extracurricular activity (anything but hockey), go shopping or do some running around with them. Reality… walking across the road nearly getting hit by my son’s school bus to get my 3 o’clock chocolate & tea fix. Kids are on their way to the sitters where they will safely stay out of my way for the next 2 hrs.

4:30 husband calls: I’m on my way home. I’ll start supper. Don’t forget to pick up the kids! “Ok honey I’ll start shutting things down right now” 5 pm. working…. 5:15… working…5:30 husband calls: Dinner is ready in 5 minutes, have you picked up the kids yet? OH CRAP> I forgot to stop working at 5 and pick up the kids. “I’m locking up right now honey”

Dinner at my house is a family event. Nobody misses dinner at the kitchen table unless you are deathly ill or you have made other commitments that occur during that time. So the real reality is I wouldn’t change this part or the next 2-3 hrs in fact. dinner, dishes, homework, playtime, stories, bed time routine and kids all tucked in with multiple hugs and kisses, trips to the potty, glasses of water and snuggles with critters of various sizes, shapes, breeds and colours by 8:30 pm.

That’s when things get serious. A twitter friend/follower/fan and illustration expert von glitchca (“Vonster”) refers to this time as going into “mole mode” so I go Mole: this is when I do my best work. This is when the ideas flow and things just magically happen. I love this time of day. This I wouldn’t change it either. This in reality only lasts till about 10 pm cause in real life I have to be up and functioning by 7 am. My ideal day would actually end about midnight or 1 am. Then I would take myself to bed and read for another hour or two. Hence the getting up at 10:30 am.

Now you are probably thinking this sounds like an awful long day with quite a bit of work in it. but really I only “worked” for about 4-5 hrs. and mostly after 8:30 pm. This would be my Monday to Thursday routine. Fridays would be a couples day ( Husband doesn’t work on Fridays, kids in school). Saturdays & Sundays Family only time.

After writing out my ideal day I realize that family time is important to me but not the focus of my life. My work is just as important.

One goal I haven’t ever been able to accomplish is eating regular healthy meals so perhaps this is a goal I need to set for myself. Don’t get me wrong I do eat healthy food. I love healthy food. (grilled chicken on spinach flat bread with avocado & sprouts being my fav) I just don’t enjoy the preparation of it. Did you notice… simple breakfast, restaurant lunch, husband makes dinner… I think that is great reality.

Other things I noticed I didn’t incorporate into my ideal day was housework… so I guess that means when I am a wealthy freelancer I will also have a maid! I need to start working on those goals quick the laundry is piling up!!!

And I. Every once in a while we need to take the time to invest into ourselves & our businesses. We need to take the time to learn new things, get caught up in what our competitors, colleagues and clients are doing. Spend time working on our businesses instead of in it.

I am a firm believer in continuing education. My first career choice would have been “Student” if I could.
I am also a firm believer in doing my best to keep up with trends, business goals and making things simple and less costly for my clients.

This past quarter has been one of my most productive & fullest yet. Thank you to all of my current & past clients that have got me to this point. And all of you who consistently refer me to your clients and colleagues. Celebrating my fourth year in business (March 26th) was a huge milestone for me.

Key Lime Creative has grown and even made a minuscule profit in the last four years. And to continue to do so I need to make some business changes and “go back to school”

So… from May 1-12th I will not be taking on any new client work, I will not be answering the phone or replying to e-mail. (extreme emergencies excepted) I will be investing in YOU. and I.  I will be in online training courses, out of town conferences & work shops, meeting with suppliers and working on my business to make it better for you.

I have a half a million ideas for your business (and mine) to make it better & more profitable. And probably will have a half a million more once I am done training. I will be calling on you to answer some questions for me to make my business better for you. Up until now I really have been flying by the seat of my pants. I know I need to make changes and I want them to be for the better.

If you currently have a project in progress with KLC, It will be done before the first of May, pending approvals & print schedules. I will not be starting any new jobs between April 23 & May 12th, and any rush jobs that come in between April 23rd & May 1st will be subject to a 15% rush fee.

I appreciate your patience and support during this time.

So here’s to Investing in YOU!! and I!

Jennifer

PS. and just to help you out a little …. Printing of 4×6 or 5×7 post cards will be 40% off until the 23rd! Here is a link to the current costs. http://keylimecreative.ca/tips/KLC_PRC_tipsheet2.pdf ***(delivery time is 7-10 days after approval, only on orders of 1000 or more, design not included)