February 2012
Self employment tips
Tip 1 - Change your mobile ringtone occasionally.
We learned that when you’re self-employed, you’re never totally off duty, particularly if you deal with your customers and contracts directly. Your mobile often rings because there’s a problem so changing your ringtone sometimes helps prevent associating that noise with there being something you have to fix.
Tip 2 – Invest in a tumble dryer and a dishwasher.
This is another tip to help enjoy the downtime you have and something that we were slow to pick up on. We got second hand ones and it changed our life a little bit - so simple and yet so helpful.
Tip 3 - Timer switches (one for the Winter).
Walking into a warm room is heaven, I don’t think people appreciate this enough. Having timer switches on heaters is a great way to control the costs of the power but also make sure that you’re warm straight away. It also means you don’t forget that the heater is on when you leave the room and leave it running for a weekend. (A sub-tip is to get an electric blanket if you live in a cold house and put this on a timer switch as well. Like the dishwasher, this changed our lives a little bit because the farmhouse is freezing in the Winter).
Tip 4 – An incentive for an early start.
Roland and I love a Starbucks coffee and when we had 4.15am starts for the Saturday farmers’ markets every weekend, we’d say, “let’s get a Starbucks at the Warwick services”. It sounds silly but it really helped us get out of bed and into to the car. If there’s something that you like, allow yourself the treat.
Tip 5 - To do list.
Everyone has their own system. Mine is to write out everything I need to do and put a circle by it. Then each morning, I read through it and colour the circles in, with a red crayon, next to the ones I have to do that day.
Tip 6 - Email yourself.
If you have an iPhone, Blackberry or anything that sends emails, send yourself an email with any idea, reminder or thought. If you put this thought as the subject title, then it’ll be in your inbox and works well as a to-do list. You’re not allowed to delete the email until you’ve actioned.
Tip 7 – Get a good telnovella.
All these boxsets are great, we think. The joy of getting something like West Wing, Sopranos, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, etc… is that they’re 45mins of pure brain switch off time that are available to you on demand. Sometimes, a half hour programme isn’t enough to make us sit down and relax and we don’t want to spend ages channel surfing. Also, a film is too long because we’re tired and want to go do bed. (We particularly recommend West Wing, by the way.)
Tip 8 – Exercise.
I took it hugely for granted in London when I walked home from work and passed the Virgin Active gym, which was then less than 200m from our flat. It’s a little less easy for us now that we’re 15mins drive to the gym, have no set routine for when we finish work, or as explained in tip one, never actually finishing work. So you need to be strict with yourself because we truly believe that exercise can be the most productive thing on your to do list. You’re in charge of your company now and if you don’t look and feel healthy, your company won’t either. Exercise is also a great way to switch off and relax. Even if it’s 20mins of aerobics in your sitting room, an hour’s cardio in a gym or just going for a walk outside. We would say that it’s as important to factor exercise into your day, three times a week, as it is anything else.
Tip 9 - Take a pack lunch.
Alongside exercise is obviously trying to eat healthily. To begin with, we were particularly bad about snacking on the go, rather than planning lunches. Also, we’d buy lunch when we were out on the road or at a farmers’ market and the cost of this really adds up.
Either make sandwiches to take with you (and always a bottle of tap water) or, even better, make extra when you cook supper one night and have little Lock & Lock portions for the lunch the next day. Yum, leftover pasta bake or sausage casserole.
Have you got any tips like this? Please email me miranda@muddybootsfoods.co.uk because I’d love to add them to this and I’d like to learn them myself please.
Thank you to Anna from www.lovemycow.com for a brilliant suggestion. Here is Tip 10:
"Tip 10 - Plan your meals.
I also work three days a week and we have two small children. My top tip is to plan a menu for suppers each week and make sure I get everything I need on my weekly trip to the supermarket and the butcher. I make enough so that the girls can have leftovers for lunch and, most important of all, my husband and I get a decent meal every day and I never have to think of what to do for supper at the end of a busy day. Planning meals in advance also keeps the shopping bill reasonable!"
Thank you to Katie Pearn www.katiepearnfoods.co.uk for a great Tip 11:
"Working full-time 9-5 and then becoming a 5-9er in the evenings to set up and run my business, I realised I had no time to keep the home up together, do the shopping, maintain the garden and so the list goes on…my husband suggested we get a cleaner. It was a relief when Ieuan suggested the idea as I certainly wasn’t going to admit defeat that I couldn’t actually do everything! But in reality, we can’t. Our cleaner Jess has made our lives so much easier; the feeling of weight that lifted from my shoulders after we had hired her was beyond belief. Being able to apply my time fully to my business outside of my day job without thinking about all the other things that need doing around the house is incredibly motivating. If you are worrying about justifying the cost, look at it this way, an hour or two spent cleaning could be an hour or two spent investing in your business which in the long term should completely outweigh the costs of a cleaner. What are you waiting for…."
And thank you Sarah for Tip 12:
"Hi Miranda, adding to your tips: do your supermarket shop online. I pay £3.50 and have saved on a standard shopping list. When i'm dead beat its just a matter of click, book a slot, saved list, checkout, confirm card. Job done in 3 minutes!!" (chance for a quick plug for www.muddybootsfoodhall.co.uk too, I hope you'll forgive me).
