Take a Break This Summer

These last few weeks of summer weather has had me feeling a little down. I've been sitting at home working all day feeling overwhelmed by new projects and wishing I could just skip out for the afternoon and have a few beers in the sun. I started to feel a little bitter toward friends whose salaried jobs seem to afford them the luxury of long lunches and cutting out early on Fridays.

But I stopped myself. That line of thinking doesn't get you anywhere and then I reminded myself of what I'm working toward. Creating your own business is hard work, but the payoff can be grand. I'm not necessarily talking money, although we all hope that comes at some point, I'm talking about having a vision and making it happen. Having the guts to fail and keep going. Being brave enough to walk the tightrope without a safety net.

So when the long days and endless to do lists have you wondering why it is you're doing this again, make sure to take a moment to focus on what you're creating. Imagine the business a year from now, three years from now and bask in the accomplishment of it all.

However it's not enough to just keep slogging along toward the light at the end of the tunnel. This is your life right and you deserve a little distance from it all, actually you require it. You need to take the time to clear your head, bring things back into focus, and give yourself a little boost to keep going. Take a 20 minute walk to enjoy the afternoon sun or an extra 15 minutes with your coffee in the morning before you turn on the computer. Build little treats into your day and your week to keep yourself sane.

When you feel most like you can't take the time is probably when you need it the most. Put yourself in a place where you can't do anything about the tasks swirling around in your head and let them swirl. When you can't jump from one to another distracted by new thoughts and ideas the most important tasks have a way of floating to the top and giving you a whole new focus for where best to spend your energies.

To that end I am off early tomorrow morning for a weekend of camping in Tahoe. No phone or computer for almost 3 days.

If you do nothing else this weekend at least take a long walk without your phone, no ipod, just you and your thoughts. Let them go and see where they take you.

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I encourage comments directly to this post, but also feel free to email me directly with questions, reactions, struggles, etc. genevieve@lightboxsf.com

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!