Taking a break from my day-job (again)

Yes, it’s time for another installation of my business chronicles where I share both my struggles and triumphs as a budding sewing entrepreneur. 

If you have followed me for a while, you probably already know that I run a growing sewing business while also relying on a regular day-job for a much needed financial security.

There is however one big problem with this seemingly sensible set-up; it’s completely exhausting. And the more my business grows and the more products I create, the more tired and overwhelmed I get. So doing this day-job+side gig combo is pretty much like asking for a burnout to happen.

Something had to give

This year I finally reached my breaking point, which was caused by a combination of being completely overworked while also dealing with a lot of Covid-related stressors. 

I basically woke up one day in August, heart racing and with an overwhelming feeling that I just can’t live like this anymore. As in, I really cannot live like this anymore. Which was scary, especially as I was in the throes of finishing my latest book and was also about to go full time again at my day-job after working four days a week for six months. 

Meaning that I would need to work even more when I was already burning my candle at both ends and at a total breaking point.

So something had to give. And while I had this crisis, there were also changes happening at my day-job, due to Covid and some other stuff. Not great, but the silver lining was that it presented a small opportunity to take another hiatus. And while it would have been awesome to keep my monthly salary, I knew I had to make some sacrifices in order to regain my sanity and also have the time and mental space to properly launch my book.

To sum it up, I’m now off from my day-job until the end of the year. Apart from launching the book, I’m also working on a new garment pattern, getting back to producing weekly sewing videos again and just trying to fix all the back end stuff that comes with running a business. 

And of course, make sure that I get more rest. While I still work pretty much full time, it’s doable since I no longer have to work 60-70 hours a week, juggling both my business and my day-job. So just a few weeks in, I’m already feeling so much better about my life, even though running a business is, of course, challenging too. But it’s also very fun and energizing!

I still don’t have a long term solution

Now the tricky bit, which remains unsolved, is how do I navigate returning to the day-job after the Holidays? I don’t have a clear plan for that, but I will likely have to scale back on my business work for the foreseeable future. 

Which kinda causes me grief to be honest, since I’m in such a growth phase right now, where I’m finally having the kind of momentum and success that make me feel like I have a solid business model with great long term potential.

So yes, I’m in a bit of pickle, where I don’t have any clear answers to what the future holds. But if there is one thing that 2020 has taught us, it is that we cannot take anything for granted and whatever situation we find ourselves in, we have to adapt and adjust and hopefully there will be a better outcome eventually.

I also recently did a video about the mental toll and the struggles I’ve faced this year, where I expand on a lot of stuff that I talk about in this post since I think it’s super important to also address this side of life.

Because I don’t ever want to be that person who only shares her triumphs and thus paints a very rosy, and completely unrealistic, picture of what life really is like.