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Micro-Flexes - I wanna hear about them
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I considered applying for a job Reader It’s very rare that I see a job that is even a tiny but appealing to me, but for about 3 seconds this weekend, an assistant manager role at our local nature reserve did look quite attractive. The salary was similar to what I pay myself now, and the hours were a little more than I currently work. Then I remembered that on Monday I was taking Flossie (the world’s fluffiest tabby cat) to the vet for her annual check-up and vaccinations. And then my brain snowballed….recollecting all the little tiny moments of flexibility I enjoy from being self-employed, and how they’d be gone if I had a job. Appointments for the dentists, doctors, hairdressers can be had for me and The Sons at pretty much any time of day, any day of the week. I can match my activity to my mood, energy or well-being. Need fresh air? I open the door and walk out of it. Feeling focussed at 8pm on a Saturday - I can grab my laptop, get productive, and know I’ve freed up hours of my time for the next week. I can take a nap whenever I need to (which apparently is quite often in the Winter). I get to stroke my cats whenever I want….OK I’ve got to stop listing these things now, it’s making me emotional. Oh wait…. I should probably mention something about how I love being around for The Sons….. I probably shouldn’t have listed them after my cats…. don’t tell them. It’s very hard to put a financial value on these micro-flexes, so they often get overlooked. And when we tally up what we’ve achieved so far in our business, or we visualize the goals we want to achieve, these little freedoms don’t make it onto the list. But if we set goals, and measure achievements, only in terms of numbers - hours worked, and money earned - we’re missing out on a huge amount of value our business already gives us, and could be giving more of. Sure count the money - we need that. But count the micro-flexes too. What micro-flexes does your business offer you already? What would you like it to deliver more of in 2025? And have you designed your business, your offers, your marketing to make that possible? |
The Comfy Business Newsletter | Laura
Join thousands of readers building a business that works around Life Stuff (like chronic physical or mental health conditions, recovery from big life events, caring responsibilities). I send two-ish emails each week, to help you enjoy a more comfy business and life.
At the end of a long and tiring day, my brain told me to turn off the TV and draw a duck. I know better than to argue with my brain, Reader - there would be no sleep until I had followed the inspiration. So I did. One day, I would like to illustrate my blog posts and newsletters consistently, with drawings that clearly communicate something, and are in a style that is recognisably mine. But for now, I am playing around, drawing animals, weather icons, and whatever else I feel like attempting....
Do you keep track of what you’ve done, not just what you need to do Reader? A to-done list…. or even a ta-dah list if you’re feeling exuberant. I’ve done it for short periods when my inner voice has been particularly savage and I needed to feel better about what I was doing with my time. But it hasn’t been a habit of mine. It felt like too much of a faff to do The Thing and then write down that I had done The Thing. A few weeks ago, Son#2 began attending a farm-based day centre as part of his...
Yesterday, as I was a couple of hours into working on a new tool I’m excited about, I started to feel Not Good, Reader My chest felt tight, so I took off my bra (even though it was more than five hours before bra-off-o-clock), but I still felt like my lungs were being crushed. Then I realised my tongue was rammed hard up against the roof of my mouth - just like it is when I’m really stressed. I was focusing so hard on the thing I was excited about, I was holding my breath. So I looked it up,...