Anybody got any good ideas for Burn-out?

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Jennifer.... oh, I can equate!!

I pretend I am on vacation somewhere I'd want to be.... and get on with it. Close on time and go out and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air - which has finally arrived in this area!! 'bout time!!

That's the best I can offer at this point.

Roz
 
Sorry, I got nothing.I want to go outside and play.
 
Jen, open the doors and at least enjoy the weather. If you don't have a ton of work to do, take a chair outside and read awhile and come back refreshed, ready to work some more. Make some money so you can actually enjoy something on your real time off.
 
A walk around the block if I'm at work helps, followed by a phone call to The Lovely Blanche to let her know I'm gonna need a foot rub and two fingers of 18 year old single-malt when I get home.
 
I opened the shop 30 minutes late just so I could clean off the leaves and pine needles off one of my perrenial gardens, great to see plants just starting to poke out.

Made me feel like a new person!
 
'Tis the Season....almost.

I started to pull a couple weeds in the flower bed and barrels at the shop on Monday, the day after I spent all day with my accountant on my tax stuff. Talk about needing a vacation! I ended up pulling out a huge pile of dead plants and weeds. And I had several flower seed packets waiting, so I planted them too. I just decided I needed to do that more than I needed to work inside, and I ended up spending three hours out there getting my hands dirty, in the cool air and sun and fresh air.

Snowed the next day, but it looks nice now, and I feel better much better about having to be inside. Weather's yucky anyway....more rain/snow again today.

Jen, if you can't be outside for a bit, try giving something you've been putting off some attention.....organize your files (I got mine all new file folders, color-coded by section), or go through your mat scraps and toss the oldies, or re-arrange some art on the walls. Put on some up-beat music, change something, it helps me energize when I'm feeling burnt. !
 
Close early. You deserve it.
 
Perhaps easier said than done, but here are some suggestions:
  • Take some time off.
  • Get some sleep.
  • Play. Exercise and laughter help get your mind back to a place where it can be productive and creative again.
  • Eat. Really great food, the kind that makes you feel guilty, can help put your mind in a good place.
  • Work on something you love. Take a break from regular stuff.
 
Best tip I was ever given was to take about 15 to 20 minutes every day.....more if you can.....around lunch time......either go for a walk or get outside somehow......this time is for total for you.....its not for eating lunch or reading the paper.....or any other activity it is just total time out.....

You must get outside......I’m not sure what the science is but it has something to do with how we take natural light in through our eyes...............

Try it I have been doing this most days for the last six months and it appears to be working wonders.........

Remember ............time for you and you alone.......no nothing but time out......outside......if its raning or snowing stand in the doorway......and get that natural light.....
 
FaiBurnout.jpg



Yes, thats me driving and thats my car!
 
I'm worried about you!

I think you're overloading yourself, Jen. I wish someone had told me this earlier in my business.
Focus on your present situation for a while. Too much enthusiasm can kill your spirit! Quit with the "new" ideas for a while. Don't try to implement every idea you hear about on the Grumble or at the trade shows or in the trade magazines. Stop, count to 10, really look at your business, count to 10 again. Even better, write it down and then wait 6 months and look at it again.
Spend your time this way instead. Really look at what you've accomplished. I mean really look. Walk around, look, touch, smell, feel. Be proud of yourself! Now count your blessings. Slow down a little. Spend quality time with your customers- ask about them and their families; then go home and spend quality time with your family! Reach out to people who care about you - I'm here if you need to talk! :icon21:
 
I'm sad when I read about self employed framers that are tied to their shops and have little life outside.

Your work and your life must get together so you actually have both.

Communicate with your customers - don't feel you have to be there all day every day waiting for them to come in. Let them know you have a life and tell them when you will be there and when you won't.

Plan your week for both life activities and work activities and put a sign on the door "THIS WEEK'S HOURS" and post when you'll be there. Be generous - early one morning, late a couple of evenings - but not there at all on Tuesday or Wednesday or whatever.

I'll print a nice color sign with a clipart little boy playing and colorful ballons all around and the sign reads "Grandpa is going to Grandson's 3rd Birthday and won't be working this Saturday afternoon" and I get nothing but positive comments from my customers.
 
Jennifer,
Do you own your business or does it own you? Your tag line says it all:

No one will ever die from a framing emergency.

Close the doors for one day. You don't list any hobbies or outside interests in your profile but I'm sure you have them. Indulge yourself in that for one whole day and try to forget about the shop. Sometimes you just have to get away and it sounds like you are there.
 
Jennifer, my business has had its ups and downs over the last 20 years.

I have always found that when I feel stretched in 12 directions and deep fried to a crackly crunch that it is TIME TO HIRE.

I like to find someone who is fabulous with customers and a dynamite salesperson... someone who can make a day better $-wise just by showing up.

Having someone excellent and reliable working for you is like money in the bank. You can then take an unscheduled day off to get a manicure or clean your freezer and your shop will STILL MAKE MONEY.

I certainly would do this before I left my shop dark for one day or monkeyed with my hours. Customers like consistency.

Be good to yourself, do what you got to do to be an excellent framer, boss and retailer, but do it smartly and sensibly.

I have always found it to be not unlike a high-wire act trying to balance my life and business. But, the balance is important. I am a better businessperson when I get close to that balance.

Be a businessperson; not a martyr.

edie the givingmyselfabonusrightnow goddess
 
What I would do is:

• Close 15 minutes early.

• Stop on the way home and but the most expensive KY bourbon the liquor store has.

• When you get home make an exact 50% bourbon and 50% Coke drink.

• Take a wicked hot shower while drinking iced beverage.

• Get out of the shower and make another drink (see above recipe).

• Have 2 more drinks (see above recipe).

• Take a cab to a fine restaurant alone (details to follow).

• Treat yourself to an inferior watered down "jack and coke" to support Tennessee’s struggling whiskey factories.

• Eat light having 2 or 3 more beverages (see above for recipe).

• Take a cab to a rowdy biker bar and find the prettiest woman (good luck) or man (if that’s your thang) with a wedding band and kiss him or her on the mouth.

• NOW QUICK grab a chair!

• Throw a chair whoever seems to be heading your direction the fastest. That is probably your new friend’s spouse.

• When attention shifts to you, scream "call the police I don't care!!!!"

• Move quickly to the door and find the most expensive car in the parking lot and hot wire it......ok first learn how to hot wire it. Nothing is more embarrassing than getting to this point and have no idea how to hotwire a car!!!!!!!!

• Lock the doors and with the motor running, wait until you hear police sirens and speed away in that direction.

• After the police get you in custody, slur violently "man I don't even know wat you problem is I'm going home and just got off work and stuff and loosen these cuffs." Cops really like cursing too…I’d curse a lot!

• After your closest relative bails you out, go home.

• Drink as much water as you can and take 4 Advil.

• When you wake up in the morning you will want nothing more than to go back to the shop.

or so I've heard.
 
Ron Eggers said:
You could always do what I did, but that's a bit drastic.
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I think you are a bit hard on yourself Ron...........we are all where we are ..........and that is what we must deal with.....in our own way.....

You made YOUR decision which was the right one for YOU.......and if I’m recalling it right it did not take you very long to make that decision.................I think you said something like you had to think all of a minute or so...........you had an opportunity and you made a decision....

I made my decision back a few years ago....when I was in Atlanta...................it took me all of a minute or so while I was getting a coffee to make that decision.............the decision was to move on..........I did not have an opportunity at the time.......but that came very quickly once I had mad the decision....to move things up to the next notch...

Perhaps Goddess is right and that the decision Jennifer needs to make is to move her business up to the next notch..................or then again .............

One thing Jennifer has going for her right now is that she is talking about it..................I wish I had had the same skills a few years ago..................perhaps I would have made the decision a bit quicker........who knows...............”I am where I am” and that what I need to deal with right now.........

BTW I’m in a very nice place these days with my business.......it’s got legs and is moving nicely in the right direction.............I have had some amazing business training and further education since I bought the business I have now................it’s quite amazing what the Irish Government are doing these days to help business people move their business up and on...........they see as a major part of employment in Ireland going forward the small business person ............they are pumping millions into training and further education for the small business owner..............I have just completed management training which would have cost me US $5000+ if I had to pay for it myself.........in addition to the training I now have a consultant/mentor who knows my business who I have on going access to for the further all for free.............

I have also been asked to partake in a pilot program KESP (Knowledge Economy Skills Passport) run by the National College of Ireland http://www.ncirl.ie/ ..............it very interesting....... www.kesp.ie


and on a personal level asides from my Dad’s decline in health ................I’m doing great.......

To all take care of yourselves and all the best

Oh...... BTW another decision I have made is that we are getting a dog......
 
Dermot. said:
Oh...... BTW another decision I have made is that we are getting a dog......
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That's a very good decision. There are two at our house now and I'm seriously considering fostering a black and tan coonhound pup that needs some help.

I have no regrets at all about closing my business, but I would never encourage someone else to take such a drastic step. What I'm doing now is about as different from picture framing as it could be and I like it a lot. I also like leaving it behind at the end of the day and the end of the week.

When I did have my shop, I closed it for a week after Christmas, a week when the kids were on spring break and - usually - two weeks in the summer. I'm sure it cost me some business, but it helped me keep my head attached to my shoulders for 28 years.
 
I have told most of my story somewhere else here but I agree with both Ron and Dermot, you have to deal with your existing circumstances and offerings that are put before you regardless of the changes they may require. It's the old adage of closing one door to have a larger door open before you. But there is always an inherent factor of risk that many aren't ready to take.

I am also very content to work regular hours, have a steady sizeable paycheck coming in each pay period, and no worries about overhead, rent, advertising, and all the other stuff associated with being a business owner. Those items were leading me to burnout!!

But I don't for a second believe that this is the end all be all!! I am constantly open for new adventures and am looking at something at this time that may be another step in the process of getting down that path I am walking. So, Jennifer, do what you feel in your heart you have to do but never close your eyes to things around you. It may come to be that you will have an entirely new career in 10 years and never suspect that you would ever be in that position until it actually happens. Until that time, don't take things so seriously and don't look at your business as being the terminal focus of your life. Enjoy yourself and enjoy what you are doing. Once the joy and the fun leaves your job, you will never feel the same about it again.
 
WOW, I really touched a nerve....

I have to admit, It feels good to know I'm not the only one who has felt this way. :o

I have had this shop for 7 years. With alot of prayers and help from the Lord, I built it from nothing and I do love it. It is a good source of income and it is a great way of letting my creative juices flow.

Someone asked if I had any hobbies..... I have three daughters in three different schools(elementary, middle and high school), a wonderful husband (who has no interest in framing) and I am very active in my church. Oh and we love to go Camping!

To be honest, this business is on the edge of going to the next level and exploading, and I see all of the potential and am sometimes so frustrated that I am not in a place where I can't make that happen.

I am the "Mom' and that has to be my first priority. (and I'm so thankful for that)

Edie, I think your idea is great, And may look into that in the future, but Right now I have my mom and my daughter working for me.
Mom is here to help me stay on top of things but really has no interest in framing and designing. She cleans the shop and fits up. She can wait on customers but really hates it. (she is precious and so good to me)
My daughter shows alot of potential , but is a teenager and really doesn't want to focus on growing a business right now. Typical teenager.


I like the idea of going outside everyday. And I like the one about closing when I need to. I do that, but struggle with mad customers. Mine aren't very understanding.:kaffeetrinker_2:

Anyway, thank you all for your encouragement and suggestions.

I know it is just a little Spring Fever at it's extreem! :icon19: I will survive and be just fine.
And the truth is.... This is a good problem to have. I am thankful that this is the worst thing going on in my life right now! :icon19: There are alot of people out there with real problems and real illnesses.

Thanks again for all of your help!:)

I love this forum!:icon21:


You guys are great to put things in perscective!
 
An idea which could work for some:

a business down the block from my store is a family business and they are open 7 days a week and long hours. They work for 5 months and then close for a month. Gives them 2 months off every year. They have done this for about 20 years. They run adds announcing they're upcoming month closed and adds again with specials for their "reopening". They insist their business is better this way as customers miss them and get excited by their "return". They feel it creates a dynamic to their business.
 
What a range of burn-out cure ideas! From Jay's hit-youself-on-the-head-with-a-hammer-'cause-it-feels-so-good-to-stop hangover burn-out cure, to walk away from your biz cure, to stand-in-the-doorway-for-sun-on-your-face cure, to come in later and leave earlier cure, to dig-in-the-dirt cure.....and they've all worked for somebody.

Doncha just love this Grumble?

Sometimes just a good ol' whine helps me, and then, like you said, Jen, I take a deep breath, get a better perspective, look back at what I've actually accomplished, say a big Thank You to the Universe, and plunge back in, with a renewed energy.

Getting a part-time helper (who loves framing and customers) has helped immensly, as well.
 
I just took a rare two days away, in Wales; scaled 'Pen Plunlumon' (probably not spelled right)- the highest mountain in Mid Wales - it was great, I could see, I don't know, 50 miles all around and not another human being in site.

I ate my packed lunch and then just lay there for about an hour, trying to think of something to stop me from thinking of framing.

Actually felt an urge to get nekkid - but resisted - just as well - a passing helicopter came for a closer look at this body in the prone position!

Then a pair of buzzards circled above - they took my mind off everything and the only sound was their calls.

Heaven.
 
I went 4.5 years without a vacation. I took my first week off last year. I am taking my second week off this week, and not a moment too soon. I have reached burn out of massive porportions. At least it is from being busy...............I see now it is importane to step away to refresh.
 
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