I briefly alluded in a post at the end of 2019 that I would be receiving more support in my artistic endeavours and my fundraising job too. Well, as of January 2020 I have officially changed my working hours at the day job down to 3 days a week.
This means that I officially spend more time not at the job than I do at the job! That’s a big move but the right one. Those 3 days a week will be busy and intense I am sure, but it means that some of my responsibilities have reduced.
Plans for the Extra Day
It might surprise you, but my plan isn’t to take on more projects. This last year was the second year of my business. To say it has been busy is an understatement. Through 2019 I have worked across seven cities in the UK with painting projects. This is on top of working a four day a week job, and not counting the additional four cities hat I have worked in at pop up opportunities, markets and stockists. Then there has been all my digital commission work and online shop, my Kickstarter campaign, and designing and producing new products. Importantly it also doesn’t include the time that is spent on everything else. The admin, the commission chats that don’t pan out, the applications that don’t come good. The extra day’s work is already there.
So, what’s the goal?
The goal is still to improve my business but not through taking on more. It is about streamlining the work I already do. I’ts about regaining a better work/ life balance. The pace in which I have been working last year is not sustainable. So it’s about more than just having an extra day to spread my workload over, I want to make sure I am using my time sensibly too.
This does mean that some of the things I have been doing in 2019 I will not continue into 2020. But this will be discussed a bit more in my next weeks post where I look at my goals for the year ahead.
Under Pressure
It does mean that there is now a financial expectation of my work that I didn’t hav before. I have always been working for pocket money, but now I need to account for the drop in income I have entailed due to dropping my hours with my employer. It’s not that I have put myself in a position of risk,but it is about having a more tangiable reason to set myself financial targets. I am looking forward to his opportunity to run my business more efficiently, more strategically and ensure that it has a strong and viable economic model. Ooooh do I sound fancy right now or what?