A few days ago I was scrolling through instagram (read: procrastinating) and came across this very real post from Holly Tucker listing all the reasons why her brain was racing, and I realised, hey, my brain is racing a lot too! Now, my brain is kind of always racing, but at this time of year when things are a little quieter, it gives the old noggin a chance to really ramp up with all those thoughts. So, like Holly, I figured doing a little brain dump would a) get things out of my head and into writing (those pesky worries always seem so much worse when they exclusively live in your head) and b) I've noticed there's quite a few of us talking about similar worries, so if this is you, I hope this post helps you feel like we're all feeling similar things right now! So, in no particular order:
- New collection - oh boy, I was really on top of our new collection, but I staggered putting things into production and now the short lead time stuff has dragged on and I'm running a bit late!
- Feeling generally overwhelmed with all the new stuff I want to do, and finding it hard to pick a place to start.
- Redoing our catalogue file format and it's a SLOG.
- Things in retail are just a bit tough right now, and it feels a little scary. I know this is a quiet time of year and I feel like I have this freak out around this time every year. I also know that feelings are not facts (I can thank Katie @ Proof to Product for this one) but that doesn't help my brain with the freak outs. If you're feeling this too, just know almost everyone I've spoken to feels the same. It's got to come around and start feeling busy/good again, right?
- General low level business anxiety that never really goes away. If you're not worried about things falling apart tomorrow (absolutely not a rational concern, but not all concerns need to be rational to take up bandwidth!) then are you really doing it right? I've always thought the low-level fear keeps us non-complacent with our businesses. Not sure if it's healthy but there you go.
- Doing a lot of work on changing how we do things to make the business and its processes and growth sustainable and manageable for the future. It's hard work and at that point where we're working real hard before seeing results. In the weeds!
- Generally feeling a bit bleh physically. Think it's a) been travelling a bit recently (which, very fortunate to do so, but it means all my good habits go out the window and I start to feel like mush) and b) the change in seasons, which always makes me feel weird for a week or two.
- Started a new fitness thing and everything HURTS.
- Still haven't sorted my wardrobe after having them renovated at the end of last year.
- Are my cats okay? Genuinely, if you're a pet owner, do you ever stop worrying about them? I don't know. Nothing in particular to be concerned about, just general worry.
- Have bought lots of books, haven't read a whole lot.
- Do I drink too much diet coke? This is also something I wonder about way too much.
- Honestly, the majority of my brain space is taken up with business stuff - is that a bad thing?
So there you go. It's true that these things aren't as bad once you dump them out in writing. Definitely think you should do the same in some way, I promise it feels better!
- Jana
