On Getting Things Done



There isn't enough time in the day right? I've been feeling a little out of sorts of late and had to take a bit of time out over Easter to recharge my batteries. I suffer from a couple of ongoing health issues and it's easy to let things slide with medications and well just lack of enough quality sleep to really recharge my batteries. With a busy (almost) 2 year old it's hard to find a bit of peace and quiet away from the housework and the endless list of 'Things to Do'. My phone and my washing machine broke and my computer had a mini meltdown - it really was a bad couple of weeks!!! I so enjoyed my other half taking some extra days off and taking the little one off for adventures! It meant I could get some quality time in the house to myself and catch up on some much needed rest.

My life requires a lot of juggling and things can get very busy - I'm running Kitten Vintage as a 'side hustle' to being a full-time carer to my little girl (no daycare here!) and also freelancing about 10 hours a week. I manage a couple of clients (a Health & Wellness Store) and a store and website for a Singapore Interior Designer) and also assist rebranding and marketing for a Sydney based PR Agency. I don't really promote my services but when people knock on my door for the odd graphic project or website re-design I enjoy the challenge and it is a great business I can work on from home in my own time.

As a work-at-home mum (wahm) timing and organisation is key. Also you've got to be prepared to maximise nap time and leave the cleaning to concentrate on the work that needs attending to first. It's easy to get distracted but in my head I always prioritise by asking "What is the most important thing". Often I need to respond to a client and get some revisions on website or graphics sent for approval. If they respond quickly I may get the task completed, but often I find myself working to quite late in the evening after they have responded to my updates.

The other way I prioritise tasks is to think "What's going to make me the most money?". As in any small business, cashflow can be a bit of a struggle and I've just invested in some promotional materials and fabrics for my new range so my funds are getting low. Consequently that means that my ebay listings took priority for most of last week.

As my freelance design and marketing work is stepping down I'm trying to raise my game with my own business. Realistically Kitten Vintage and kit//ten are really small new businesses and it's going to be some time before I see some decent income coming through my website, so I've decided to up my ebay game and will this month change to an ebay shop which allows me to make more listings. I'm hoping that this will bring in a small 'wage' each month which will substitute my income as I get things moving with my own brand range.

Of course this all takes time too but in the short term things are moving in the right direction and it's great to have ebay sales ping though to my phone over the weekend. As I'm always out and about looking for vintage to re-sell or re-work adding the ebay shop is an easy add on to things I do anyway but I've discovered a completely different thing sells on there - more brand names than vintage goods. I'm learning every day about brands which sell and what they sell for - currently I have 70 listings and am selling 2-3 pieces a week so it's growing very slowly but getting there. If you're interested in what type of things I'm selling on ebay have a nosey here - Kitten Vintage on Ebay.