Hallelujah to Progress
My sanity is saved, why Platform Crocs are essential & paper diaries in my view-- are a business must have.
It’s been a week of progression in our household, and if you’ve been following this thread over the last couple of weeks, you’ll know that I run my business from home. If you, like me have had or are in the process of having work done, you’ll know the disruption that it brings and you have my sympathies. If you haven’t endured building work in your home this is a snippet of insight into the process. I know we (the royal ‘we’ of my husband and I) freely made the choice to make changes but boy does the disruption catch your breath and turn your world upside down. It’s the shock you weren’t prepared for, and it’s in finding patience that you didn’t even know you needed that can prove to be the mental challenge.
Never one to turn down a challenge or to be outsmarted by an obstacle, I have (as many of you readers will know) been managing my sanity and workload with headphones, walks of reprieve and check-ins with myself (to give myself a good talking to when needed).
It’s not just the physical change and mess that house renovations bring but the mental adaptations that are required too. Getting your head around things can feel like a strain injury that’s taking forever to heal. Like you’re contorting yourself into non-human like positions. This week though, we have a weather proof covering of felt and the Velux windows are now in place. Roof tiles are going up as I type. Hallelujah to progress (I’ll have a celebratory cup of tea) and hoorah to every stage thereafter that prepares for the next one that follows. I’ve come to realise that I’m not well built for house change. I need the stability that routine brings and the peace that home offers.
That’s also true for our autistic teen (environment and change are big triggers) and even our youngest teen too. Routine gives us parameters and when change occurs it’s all in the careful communication and what that means in reality in terms of who will be at our house working and what mess (dust) that will bring with it.
Still, we are where we are and all progress is good progress. I actually think our teenage children are handling it far better than I am as I try to manoeuvre in the kitchen with the air fryer on a camping table and the microwave balanced on a temporary wall, stretching to reach utensils and carefully balancing plates on a very small worktop space whilst serving and trying not to burn myself. What I’ve come to realise is, I need a set of octopus arms.
Short of several new flexible & sentient limbs, things are undoubtedly moving forward. Edging into the next phase. And signalling that we are nearing the end point. Sort of anyway. The end is probably and most realistically another month for us out of all honesty, including: plastering, plumbing, fittings and fixtures, new sliding doors, kitchen units, worktop installation, laying flooring along with decorating, finishing and finally any snagging.
The one thing that we are always aware of, and my husband probably more so than me because of his commercial fit-out business, is that, things happen on a build. The stuff that you can’t plan for. Sometimes it’s even the mishaps. And you can guarantee that the unplanned for, will, at some stage, most likely happen. We are mulling over a solution to our sliding doors and flooring quandary currently as I write this, but, it’ll be fine. Fine. The word that can portray an element of things not being fine but that also brings with it a need of acceptance and a solution to the ‘not quite so fine’. Accepting that not everything goes to plan and that sometimes change happens on top of change is liberating, but I’ve learned that it also aids the reduction of stress. Because what happens is, you stop fighting it. You accept what is and you work with it, not against it. I constantly reassure myself that it will all be okay in the end, I am in no doubt.
I don’t relish this process (or the dust), however, I have always got the end project look in mind and ensure that I do take myself away when it feels a bit too much, I ensure I exercise at least 3 times a week (Zumba & yoga are my current favs) and I plan all work in my diary. A physical diary that I buy from Papier. I like the day to a page diary type and choose different design styles, all with my business name on.
This is what holds me to account and keeps me on target. Project managing (self-appointed title) the builders (and bribery with doughnuts) is another role that I’ll add to my list of positions held (joking). But it is a job in itself even when you have a good cluster of trustworthy and talented work people running your house refurbishment project. I like to keep things very much professional and tend to slope out in my Crocs (I have Platform Crocs because at 5ft 2inches, I need the extra power height) to peruse the progress and to talk through what’s occurring and where we’re at, along with where we will be over the coming days.
By the end of this week, I’ll be prepping for the temporary kitchen wall to be taken down in order for rewiring and heating to be implemented. Coinciding (naturally) with half term week here in the UK, it will be the messiest yet but also where the transformation starts to show.
Until our sliding doors arrive, boards will be erected to protect and secure open spaces, and will offer an entrance for the work people, whilst also maintaining privacy within the rest of our home. It’s in segmenting areas and building work, versus my work and space that has also allowed for the two to work alongside one another. Creating defined areas to minimise disruption but also in enabling me to continue to run my consultancy business throughout. This has been a real winner for me. The other winner has been in sharing a phone calendar with my husband for expected works each week (we also share a private one for family events etc too) so we both know what is happening and when. This also means we can give advanced warning to our children to prepare them both for what’s to come.
To any outsiders looking on, you’ll see the front of my business is still the same and is open for business as usual. But this is the behind the scenes bit of a business owner. Where you discover the many hats that we all wear. The many hats that you probably wear too, whatever your professional capacity, home set up and life arrangements.  The many roles that we all balance. And it’s the people that help us along the way that make a difference. I do have a smidge of help around the home and I do enlist extra help when I need to focus on client work and my online content needs support with publishing etc.
It’s in enlisting & outsourcing help that has freed up not only my mind and focus capacity but also my capacity to work with the fabulous retained client’s that I have on my books. Help doesn’t have to be excessive, it doesn’t have to eat up all of your spare budget and it can even be in the automation of some processes rather than a ‘physical’ person carrying out duties on your behalf. It’s in having access to assistance when you need it. Flexibly complimenting your business as you work day to day and seamlessly running parallel to your operations.
From this week to the next, we will be seeing more change around our home, and I’m okay with that. And our diva dog Bruno will likely continue to be confused about where his access point to the garden is, as his back door for the time being has gone (due to our temporary wall). But, change doesn’t have to be negative, or seen as a hindrance, because it’s through change, much like how we plan for it in our businesses, that we can strategically plan for and execute the next stages with considered thought and careful action to reach our desired destination & goals. That and seeking sanity in the things you love when you need a moment to escape & the friends that will listen to you when you need a grumble. :-)
NB: All artistic works are carried out by my creative, autistic son as part of his work experience connected to his college course.
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Simply Amber Lou business copywriting services was founded by Amber Smith and is the home of business copywriting, content writing, course creation, copy power hours, copy packages, bespoke & bolt on services and copy audits, guided business copy teaching programmes, notebook designs and writing consultancy.
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