I am exhausted. Like, physically and mentally tapped out. Where all I can do is sit on the couch and gaze blindly at the tv screen, sipping coffee to stay awake.
But it was toooooootally frickin WORTH IT.
Because last week, my BFFs of over 23 years flew up for a visit. And I gave them my all.
We explored, we ate, we laughed. We roasted s'mores over my mom's fire pit. We fed alpacas. We kayaked and picnicked up at Sparks Lake, and I couldn't stop beaming as I realized I was sharing my favorite place with my favorite people.
My heart is completely FULL after their visit. I feel like I've been filled up with sooooo much GOODNESS, and my heart and soul is happy.
BUT… We spent over 12 hours a day together for 6 whole days, and the conversation was non-stop.
And as an introvert, THAT part was hard. But I pushed through, becasue it was soooooo totally WORTH IT. I hadn't seen them in over a year, and didn't know the next time I would see them all again.
So I basked in their presence and soaked it all up, even as my energy was depleted.
And now that they are gone, I'm gifting myself with a few “recovery days” where I can hole up at home and recharge my batteries.
Wait, what???
“You've just taken a week off of work, and now you're taking even MORE time off???”
YES. Yes, I am. And 100% guilt-free, too.
Because here's the thing (and the reason I'm sharing this with you)…
There is NO RULE in place that states that you're only allowed time off for a “vacation," or when you're actively doing something.
You know that joke about “needing a vacation from your vacation?” Yeah. That's a real thing. And it's perfectly okay to do.
Especially as an introvert, I need some extra time to recharge my batteries, clear my mind, and get back into the swing of it all.
It's not being selfish. It's not being lazy. It's called self-care.
Because I KNOW these things about myself. I know that if I were to attempt to fully jump back into work immediately - before my body and mind were actually ready - it would lead to sleepless nights, short tempers, memory loss, feeling “scattered,” and taking twice as long to get anything done.
So instead, I simply add in some “recovery time” to anything BIG I do… whether that's traveling, or “people-ing," or any bigger projects/photoshoots that I know will deplete my energy, etc.
And allowing myself this recovery time, guilt-free, is one of the boundaries I have in place for running my business.
So I simply set my boundaries by setting aside some extra time for mySELF.
How?
1. I turn on my email auto-responder, letting people know I'm out of the office through a specific date, and will respond to them at that time. (This can be done in gmail, under “settings.”)
2. I schedule my social posts and newsletters ahead of time. (This one is actually being written live, as I'm working a half-day today and am feeling good at the moment. And I'm allowed to break my own rules when I feel like it.)
3. I check in with any clients ahead of time, making sure they don't need anything from me, and letting them know I'll be unavailable until x date.
4. I give myself permission to NOT think about work while I'm away. (And this one is HUGE. Because we're often guilt-tripped into thinking/feeling like we're supposed to be available 24/7. But we're not.)
5. I set aside some extra time for myself after any big/taxing event. Including photoshoots! And whether I’m taking just a few hours, or an entire day or two off, I’ll make sure that I’m not doing any “people-ing” in that time… no meetings, phone calls, photoshoots, networking events, etc. It’s quiet time for myself, with minimal social interaction.
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And here’s the thing…
For most of us, we started our photo businesses with great intentions and notions of working for ourselves and what that might mean: more time with our family and friends, more freedom to work when/how we want, and more time to actually enjoy our lives.
But…
In reality, many of us have felt that freedom disappear. Having to do all the things ourselves or they don't get done, and there's ALWAYS something to do. Starting to feel trapped and burdened by our businesses, instead of feeling any sort of freedom. And forget about free time.
BUT… It doesn't have to be that way.
Are you living to work, or working to live?
YOU are in control of what you do, when you do it, and how you do it. And it's okay to let go of some of the capitalist bull$h!t that tells you that you must work 40 hour weeks. That you must make yourself available to everyone, at all hours of the day. That you must reply to every person within one hour, or else they will hate you forever (no they won't).
It's absolutely okay to set more boundaries in your business, and take more time for yourSELF… so that you CAN get closer to actually living the life + running the business that you've always dreamed of..
Consider THIS your permission slip. To take a day off, to delegate something, to say NO to something, to turn on your out-of-office reply, to ignore posting to social media for a day, or whatever else would feel GOOD to you right now.
Remember… this is YOUR business. And YOU get to decide how you want to run it.
Need some help figuring it out? Awesome.
Because I don't want to teach you how to build the photography business of my dreams… I want to show you how to take my teachings and use them for your own purposes, so you can build the photography business of YOUR dreams. Whatever that might look + feel like.
My BUSINESS OF BRAND PHOTOGRAPHY e-course is launching on July 5th. But it's not JUST about how to offer brand photography. It's about how to do it YOUR WAY.
And some of the lessons inside can be applied to the other photography services you offer, too. They apply to more than just branding photography.
I've even got a whole module on how to figure out what works for YOUR business. What a dream business looks/feels like to YOU. And how to decide on and set your own boundaries + enforce them.
So that YOU can do more kayaking. Go pet alpacas. Roast s'mores with your besties. And aaaaaall the other stuff that make up the beautiful fabric of a life well-lived.
So that you can work to LIVE, not live to work.
Start setting those boundaries NOW. Carve out some summer-fun. Take a day off, and turn on your out-of-office reply. Go play, guilt-free.
And I wanna hear all about it. For real. Let me know how you'll be taking some of your time back, for yourSELF.
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