I knew that an End of Workday Routine was exactly what I needed to round out my new organisational tasks which I have added to my day over the last four weeks.It seemed like a no-brainer and it truly was something I had obviously been needing to switch my brain off ‘work mode’ and into ‘relaxation mode’.
You know how I realised that all this stuff was working? I started crocheting again. Just for pleasure and to wind down at the end of the day. I haven’t done that in over a year!
I make candles and soaps in my business and I now really love that aspect of my biz. I used to crochet before I started my jewellery business back in 2010 and then I just started to do less and less of it once I was ‘creating’ as my business. I now am a crochet teacher too and I really enjoy showing others these skills.
I owned a retail store where I stocked 150 artisans but also made my own stock (jewellery then candles and soaps) and when I would get home from work, I sat on the computer fixing the website, replying to emails, adding stock to my online store, organising my social media etc. And when I was finished there, in a daze I would go to bed and get up and do it again the next day.
My retail business was a success but I completely worked myself into a state of anxiety and lethargy – what a terrible combination!
If I had thought to sit down for a few days and really think about my organisational strategy, I feel like things could have been easier and I would have been a little less stressed. If I had my Morning Dump Sheet to wake up with and then a Daily Schedule to get all my jobs done, I might not have needed to come home and work for so long.
Adding the Marketing Calendar would have meant that I wasn’t scrambling to order my Mother’s Day stock a month before the event.
Then the End of Workday Routine would have meant I could switch off, get out my crochet and enjoy the evening.
Guess what. It’s not too late for me to do that now! I don’t have the retail store anymore (which is due to needing the flexibility to travel with my husband’s job) but I can implement these techniques into my candles and soaps business and avoid falling into the same trap for the future.
I am really thankful to have had the opportunity to work through these organisational tools and add them to my work day. Writing through my experience has also been wonderful and has helped me to figure out what’s right for me.
Here’s a copy of my own End of Workday routine again which you can either print out and use or use as inspiration to make you own.
I highly recommend trying out any of the above techniques in your own business! Let me know if you have used any of these and if they’ve worked for you below.
Kath xx
