The past couple of days have been extremely frustrating. I have had some setbacks and challenging situations to figure out. As a new business owner, I can't afford to hire people to do some of the things I struggle with so I pay instead with my time and stress level.
In the past few months, I have spent a ton of time setting up my business. As technology gets more advanced, I feel like I'm falling behind. I don't fully understand how all of the apps and settings work. Searches on Google and YouTube have helped a great deal but it's still a time consuming process when I make changes to my website and other social media platforms or record a podcast episode.
Yesterday was filled with challenges and endless trouble shooting. While recording a podcast episode I kept hearing a hum. After several Google searches I finally figured out the simple act of plugging my laptop into an electric outlet was causing the hum. I went on battery power and was able to get the recording finished but then had to figure out how to schedule social media posts in advance. All of this has been so overwhelming but I have managed to figure it out... often with numerous cuss words.
My next challenge was to switch the booking and payment options over to a new platform that would integrate with my website. I had previously set up booking and payment options for one-on-one sessions through the website platform but I found it clunky and was constantly manually changing my availability online. As my schedule got fuller, I knew it was a matter of time before a double booking occurred since I couldn't see in real time when a new appointment hit my calendar. After a 12-hour day yesterday and several hours today, I am relieved that the podcast is done for the week and my calendar is finally synching properly. I was even able to set up a separate category for the podcast appointments so that they can book an appointment without having to navigate payment options. I do still need to figure out one small glitch with the payment software but I'll tackle that tomorrow when I'm more rested.
In addition, I have been anxiously waiting for the first of my papers to be graded for the certification I am working on. The assignments are graded on a pass/fail basis but the "fail" is labeled as a "refer" with feedback so that I can resubmit the portions that didn't pass. Initially I was upset because I received a refer on my paper. After I calmed down, I had to adjust my attitude and look on the bright side. This was the first paper I have ever written at a masters level. It had five sections and four passed with only one getting a fail. I only have to revise one section of the paper. I had to remind myself that I did pretty well considering the challenge I faced.
All of this grumbling and venting does have a point. It's important to give space to our emotions. I have been angry and frustrated a great deal. I allowed myself to feel the overwhelm. After a time, I tried to think of how I could tackle the problems from a different perspective and got creative with my trouble shooting. Now I feel proud of myself for figuring things out. I didn't allow my frustration to stop me from accomplishing the tasks. The bad part of being a new business owner is that I'm still wearing all of the hats till I can afford to hire others to take care of these details for me. The good part is that I can still get it done even if its not perfect. Getting a little perspective after being frustrated is really helpful. I'm taking a yoga class in about an hour and I sure do need it! It's an opportunity to release the stress of the past couple of days and enjoy my weekend even if I'll still be working for most of it.
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