A Day in the Life of a Small Business Owner
Full disclosure: one of the many pleasures of running my own business is that I get to determine how I structure every day, and that often means that no two days look alike.
However, this is the general structure of my day after a LOT of trial and error. I try to be as gentle with myself and my routine as possible, and as a workaholic...that is difficult.
The Morning
My mornings vary - I am NOT an early to bed, early to rise type, so I typically do not function well before 8am. And sometimes not until 11am. Therefore, mornings are used to tasks that do not require a ton of brain juice.
Here are my main morning objectives:
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Eat breakfast and make myself a latte...espresso helps make me more human!
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During breakfast, I try to read a good book or listen to a podcast.
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Sort through emails and check for new orders.
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Source materials, if needed. This includes checking out vendors and reordering supplies.
My mornings are simple and slow because I do my best thinking in the afternoon. I save the mentally taxing jobs for after lunch, sometimes even after dinner!
The Afternoon
As a proud member of the mid-afternoon pigeon club (since I am not an early bird or night owl), I do my best creative work between 1-7pm.
My afternoon includes...
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Taking product photos and editing them, as needed. I also take content photos at this time for that golden hour glow.
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Digging into clay or other mediums - this is when my brain is freshest for creative projects!
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Filming reels! I get the best light indoors after 12pm, and by the afternoon I am dressed for the day (even if that means leggings and a sweatshirt).
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I post on social media in the late afternoon or early evening, so I spend a few minutes engaging before and after posting.
The Evening
Because I do all my thinking in the afternoon, evenings are when I take time to do the fun but not mentally taxing activities for Jasper & Elm. This can include blogging, assembling earrings, and exercise.
I like to do these in the evening because I can enjoy a little extra work time while my partner decompresses from work. One of the biggest changes I have made to my schedule is to carve out "family time" with him and Nym (yes, our dog is family!).
Because I try to shape my schedule around my partner's, and his is an unpredictable one, we try to maximize the time we have together. Some days our evening time is in the morning, and I end up flipping my whole day. And that's ok!
The Middle of the Night
Insomnia has plagued me off and on for several years now. Instead of getting upset at myself for not being able to sleep, I have leaned into it and let myself get out of bed and do something when sleep won't come. Heck, I wrote the first draft of this blog at 2am when tossing and turning grew boring!
And that's my day!
I hope this blog was helpful - if so, be sure to share it with your fellow entrepreneurs!