Hey folks, thanks for tuning in today. If you’ve been following the Rooted Drawers journey for awhile now, you’ll know that it’s been a long time since turning down the dial on listing, shipping, strategizing and selling. That’s why we’re going to talk today about recognizing when it’s time to take a break. When your freedom of working from home feels more like a jail cell, when your side gig starts to consume your little bit of free time you have with loved ones. Can you relate? Let’s get into it.
My New Chapter
I’m about to start a new chapter in my life. It’s titled, “Doing the best things I can for my mental health and overall freedom.” Allow me to explain.
In 2017, I found a way to work from home that actually made dollars. Something to actually help to contribute to my family while keeping up with the house, something that I could easily do in my spare time when I one day have kids. It was a good side gig, I felt great about it, and then it grew.
Growth in any business is a good thing, you may be thinking. And I would obviously have to agree. Almost 8 years in though, I’m starting to see it in another light. I’ll tell you why.
Growth in what I didn’t even consider a business at one point, has now grown into hindering my personal growth instead of amplifying it. It did that at first, you see. Amplified it. How so? Because it forced me into learning new things and making new decisions and opening up to uncomfortable opportunities that I could have only ever dreamed of.
It gave me more freedom in knowing that I can work from home, work for myself, provide my own set of rules and my own course of action. It showed me how to manage time more effectively, include others thoughts and opinions more frequently, and understand the value of profit and loss in a whole new outlook.
This growth took away from me though, too. It took away things like walking every night with my husband and dogs. Things like planning new vacations and providing time-consuming home cooked meals. Things like enjoying more time in nature and more time thinking about life.
Things I think about much more now than I did 8 years ago.
A Resellers Guide To Getting Started Selling on Ebay In 2024
Give Me a Break
At this time, I think more about those things than anything else. How I’ve sacrificed those special little moments working, instead of relishing in the time that I could be spending on the things I love most. Things such as nature, pets, relationships, self-care.
But operating your own business includes sacrifices, right? It includes making hard decisions now for easier decisions in the future, right? Being your own boss is better, right?
…Is it, really?
Personally, I think this is still the case. I do still believe that the freedom of working from home, working for yourself and finding the thing that brings you joy while also bringing you an income is truly the best of both worlds. If I’ve learned one thing though in this time of doing so, it’s learning how to create more balance.
It’s about shutting down for the day, taking more opportunities to live life, to stare at screens less and turn notifications to silent. Shit, just shut those bad boys off til tomorrow. Trust me, they’re not going anywhere.
I’m not quitting being a reseller. I’m not quitting blogging about it either. I am going to start listing less and stop focusing so much of my energy on work. I love what I do, and frankly, I never really intend to quit. I do however, believe in taking necessary breaks. Something that I’ve only recently started to realize are important in the last year or so.
When’s the last time you had a break? Like a good, solid, actual chill-inducing break?
Your Business is Your Business
In 5 days I’ll be flying through the skies on my way to Arizona, one of the most beautiful places in my opinion, ready to hike, camp, and embrace all of Mother Nature herself with my best friend. Leading up to this trip, a lot has changed even since our last trip to the Grand Canyon earlier this year.
Each trip to hike, enjoy the outdoors, and be with my husband have shown me a little more and more that work is just work. It’s become less of a hobby and more of a to-do. While monotonous things do occur when you go to work or own a business, we tend to forget that we are in control of them.
We forego thinking about relaxing or self-care when there are tasks to be done. We don’t have time to tidy the house when shipping is on a deadline and customers need responded to. We slow down on household chores or taking evening walks because listings need completed or the draft bank needs tended to.
This has become a team effort especially in the last year as opposed to something I would do in my spare time. It’s growth has begun to consume all of not just my own, but our free time and I’m finally putting my foot down. While I agree that making an income is always important to pay your bills and gain financial freedom, I don’t believe that it’s worth putting above keeping yourself happy or your relationship(s) healthy.
I have never once put my store on vacation mode. I have never once gone an entire year without adding an extra selling platform. I have never once felt less anxiety not being prepared and working myself to the bone ahead of time prepping shipping and listings.
But this time is different.
This time I’m putting myself before my business…because I am not my business.
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You Are More Than Your Job Title
I am a traveler, a wife, an okay cook, a writer, a dog lover, a hiker, a kombucha-loving, avocado toast-eating millennial, an overthinker of life, a wannabe boho inspired home owner, an attempted minimalist, and a reseller. No longer am I going to put reselling first. No longer am I going to let the tasks of reselling dictate my everyday activities. No longer will I go to bed later than I want to because I’m up staring at a screen listing. No longer am I going to miss out on family functions or time with my husband or dogs because I have to work.
And I want you to take consideration in doing the same.
I’m going to start living a little more and letting life happen. I’m going to start embracing new opportunities as I age and start spending less time worried about outcomes or what-ifs. I don’t care anymore if vacation mode slows down my store for a week, because it will always be there to grow again once I return from a relaxing and recharging vacation.
I don’t care anymore if notifications come through because I will have set up a notification to send back that lets others know I am out of the office. And if they’re not okay with that, then that is okay with me. I do not need to keep up with Amazon Prime. I do need though to keep up with my mental and physical health. And that is what this post today is about.
Putting Your ebay on Vacation Mode, Putting Yourself on Vacation Mode
Have you ever felt comfortable putting your store on vacation mode? Have you tried to go one day without being “on” for the rest of the world? Or do you try to answer customer service immediately “just in case” if you don’t they may go elsewhere? Let them.
If your business has begun to overtake your everyday life, I challenge you to take one week off. Like, totally, off. Shut off notifications. Shut off shipping, listings, and anything to do with your reselling gig. It may warrant less sales, but if you can financially move through that, your mental state will most likely be in a much more “take on the next level” state when you return.
We are all humans after all. We need breaks. We crave getaways, and relaxation. We need to find balance in our workload and start to learn how to flow with the need to include regular, fun activities outside of our work hours.
P.S. If you do not currently have work hours set, I encourage you greatly to start setting some. I’m going to do that, too. If you’re for or against this challenge, please leave a comment down below. Let us discuss how we can all use our collective thoughts to come out of this challenge a better boss to ourselves (and maybe others if you have them), and to also make it to the other side a more relaxed, recharged, and ready to conquer individual.
Should You Put Your eBay Store On Vacation?
Thank You For Reading “Recognizing the Signs of Burnout: Bye Bye for Now to Reselling”
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all those who have supported us thus far on our journey including today’s post taking a break from reselling. At Rooted Drawers, we deeply appreciate your ongoing readership. We hope that you will continue to visit us in the future. Please feel free to share any comments or suggestions below.
We’re always open to receiving advice, suggestions, or even hearing your own related stories! We make it a priority to remain active in the comment section and will respond to any questions promptly. We invite you to explore more helpful tips and tricks on Our Blog Posts Page while you’re here. Don’t forget to subscribe to stay updated on our future articles!
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Talk to you soon!