Recap of Week 1 of Self-Employment

Hello Dearies!

I’ve survived the one-week mark of unemployment/self-employment.  Although I started out with a completely positive, and even excited attitude, there have been those dips everyone warned me about.  These emotional “dips” include sadness, confusion, anti-social tendencies and a bit of fear.  Overall, I’ve survived and if I didn’t feel some of these things I’d probably be a total weirdo.

Doing things on your own sure does take a long time!  For one, this blog isn’t being updated nearly as much as I thought it would be.  And yesterday, it took me way too long to start building out the “Shop” option on the navigation menu.  One of the things readers can shop for very soon are the classes I’ll be teaching in-person and online.  This page is less than stellar (in fact, I’ll even qualify it as lame-o and “not-ready-for-publication”) but this stuff takes so damn long to finish and connect.  Little wins are big wins, right?!  Stay tuned because soon you’ll be able to Shop for Products, Services, Classes, Deals and Startup Tools.  When the hell these pages finally come to life, I don’t know.

I’m pretty sure some of my family and friends are wondering how the hell I plan on creating any type of income via this blog.  Well believe it or not, the options are infinite.  I’ll be sharing some of these methods with you on occasion because- trust me- you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to make some money online.

But, let’s be honest- I still have a lot to learn and if I said I didn’t watch several “how to” YouTube videos this week, I’d be totally lying…

Filter

The other hard part is time management.  My problem definitely isn’t sleeping in, watching TV all day or wanting to hang out with friends now that I’m no longer going to an office.  My problem is more of the fact that I feel like I should be working 24/7, even though I know it isn’t realistic or sustainable.  I finally went running this morning, cleaned my room and emptied out the bags full of the stuff I brought home from my desk after the lay off.  Online distractions are a bit of a threat, but having too many ideas is my biggest enemy.

My Dad’s advice to me this week has been “whatever you do, don’t get too caught up in the details. Otherwise, you’ll never get anything done.” He has a great point.  And therefore, my Task Master is my new favorite buddy.

My favorite work spot: Filter (Wicker Park, Chicago)

Overall, self-employment is exactly as I have been imaging it for the last 5 years.  I’ve joined a Toastmasters Group, went to breakfast with a fellow “dump-e” (aka former co-worker), spent time wandering Barnes & Noble just because I could, met with the Director of Internships at DePaul University, worked out of my favorite coffee shop all day, gave myself summer hours last Friday (naptime at 4pm-woo!), ran errands during the day, and take the el during non-rush hour.

The other thing I’ve done more of lately is close my eyes. A LOT.

You see,  I have a little… thing…  with shopping.  Nothing too major, just a lot of little things here and there that add up real fast.  Some people eat when they are having a bad day.  Others run.  When I’m having a bad day, I want to buy something- even if it’s just eating out instead of cooking, or stopping to splurge on cheap (un-needed) makeup from Walgreens on my way home. Not gonna lie, Jen Lancaster and I have a few things in common. The truth is, I’ve never really had to say no to myself before (or not often anyways).  Not having whatever I want is probably something I need to learn at some point or another.  This will be a challenge for me.  I’ll need to start grabbing for confidence boosters in non-shopping ways….  this may lead to weight gain (duh ice cream is my backup plan) but hey something’s gotta give!

Thanks for being part of this journey with  me!  I promise I’ll stop blogging about myself all the time very soon.  In the meantime, week 2 here I come!

Cheers and Sparkle,

Nicole