One of the continual problems of being self-employed is nobody gets it that you have a schedule to keep to (including at times yourself). Mind you one of the bonuses of self-employment is flex time but you can flex yourself out of business if at some time or the other your end product does not get produced.
Since ArtsFest I have been entirely too flexible with my schedule. I took what amounted to a whole week off to get the new steps done so HUD could do their inspection and the new renter could move in August 1st. The government flex schedule is worse than mine and now it frankly looks like it will not get done. Meanwhile the prospective renter and calls to the housing authority are taking the part of my schedule I did not want to flex having given up a week already followed by another to get ready for the Artistic Vistas and Treasures Art trail kick off. I am down to 10 days to get paintings done for my last summer fair.
Flex time is over but nobody is getting it. They seem to read studio time as an opportunity to call or pop in and take up my time. Time when I should be making up for the time "giving away" already. Open studio in my opinion means you come in and talk about the paintings of mine you would like to buy not what I can do for you since I don't have a real job.
This is my real job! And because I am waiting for calls from government agents that don't seem to keep regular hours I cannot even NOT answer the telephone. I have to finish ten paintings in the next ten day so everyone just go away!
I can sure relate to this problem. When I was writing free-lance, I was constantly having to explain to friends and family that I couldn't take leisurely lunches and shopping trips. Work is still work, and in fact, as a free-lancer, I was working far more than 40 hours a week. I needed to use those daytime hours wisely or I found myself working late into the night.
ReplyDeleteNow I have a regular employer but I do work from my home, and I have that problem again. People phone or invite me to lunch and seem to think I can spend time with long conversations and outings. I need to be online and available to co-workers during working hours, and I have work to get done.
In any event, I hope you can get the inspection done soon and the renter can move in. And that you can get some painting done.
I can totally relate!! I can't tell you how many hours I've spent since Artsfest preparing Rees' folks' house for the renters that arrive today!
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