When I established Nonesuch Garden back in 2008, I really had no idea what I was doing or where it would take me. I had no prior business knowledge, I was a disaster with a camera, and despite being an avid internet user, I really had no clue about how to market myself online. There was so much information out there about starting and maintaining a small business and a lot of pressure to learn it all as fast as you could. I felt overwhelmed and discouraged until I made a conscious decision to take in this knowledge a little bit at a time instead of all at once. Building Nonesuch Garden from the ground up has been a long and arduous process and I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but it taught me a lot about myself and how to keep myself moving forward even when I feel like I’m getting nowhere.

I often feel like I’m moving too slowly. I need to work harder, faster, better! With this mentality, I start fast from the starting line and burn out halfway through the race. It’s been a challenge to learn how to pace myself. Especially after leaving my day job, I felt like I needed to spend every waking moment working and bettering my business. I felt like any time spent not working was wasted and something to feel ashamed of. I had to get rid of this unrealistic notion pronto! I am one human being with two hands and there are only so many hours in a day. If I don’t take the time to refuel and recharge, I crash and sometimes I can’t pull myself out of it for days. Goals disappear, deadlines come and go, and I spend my prime work hours sulking instead of getting things done.

When I take it slow, I get things done.

When I take the time to take care of myself, my work is better for it. My work requires a lot of sitting and repetitive motions. If I don’t take breaks, I sustain injuries to my neck, lower back, and wrists that make working difficult or sometimes impossible. I now set a timer that goes off every 45 minutes to remind myself to stand up, move around, stretch, and get my blood moving again. I thought it would be disruptive at first, but it has actually made me more productive! I’m not getting as sore as often and because of that I’m getting more done. I also take an hour long break in the middle of the day so I can eat lunch and go for a nice, long walk. Eating something yummy and getting some fresh air makes me feel refreshed for my afternoon work session. At the end of the day, I STOP. I put away my projects and spend time with my sweetie. I admit that I sometimes slip in another hour or two of work after dinner (okay, most of the time), but I do try to relax and think about what I’m going to accomplish the next day. This gets me excited about what lies ahead and into bed at a reasonable hour so I can get up early to start my projects again.

I still make mistakes, cater to bad habits, and let doubts creep up on me from time to time. I try to be kind to myself when this happens and remind myself that I’m only human. I don’t have any super powers, but I can still accomplish anything with simple determination. I want to always be steadily moving forward, no matter how slowly.