Amber Kane: Punching the Clock to your Day

I'm a teacher, which means that I work 9 months out of the year, and then I have 3 months of free time. Well, at least that is was what I thought until a few days ago.

It's time to change my mindset.

I'm a teacher, but I"m also an artist, and a business owner. And while the only boss the I report to during June, July, and August is myself, it's time that I start approaching my days like I am working.

I do get a lot accomplished over the summer, I keep up with my blog, I work with other artists, I create a lot in the studio, but the thing is, it's not always consistent. I've never really kept track of the hours, I just do one thing and then move on. So when a friend calls and asks me to hang out, I go, which is great, but that needs to be factored into the work day.

Source: ohhellofriendblog.com via Shelley on Pinterest

source: ohhellofriendblog.com

I tried to treat this week, more like a work week, but still need to make some changes. I was on vacation on Monday, and Only worked until 12:00 on Tuesday. So I decided that on Wed, Thurs, and Friday I needed to work late, which I did, I was productive until 8 or 9 at night and actually loved it.

However, a written time schedule would be ideal.

Knowing how much time you put in is important for a few reasons.

One, how do you know how much to charge people for your services if you aren't sure how much time you put into them. Two, it's easy to waste time, and easy to tell yourself that you worked a lot more than you did. To run a successful business you need to work.

So here I am today, standing up, admitting, accepting, and embracing, I"m running my own business, and I'm going to start acting like it today.

Do you act like you run your own business, or do you act like you have a hobby that you make some money from? Both are fine, but depending on your end goal, the mindset is different. So which are you?