Monday, July 23, 2012

stretched too far

So I feel like I have gotten myself stretched too far when it comes to my photography business.  Not sure what to do about it.  The problem is...I LOVE doing it.  LOVE it.  I love it when my clients are so happy with their pictures.  I love the process of taking the pictures, I love editing the pictures.  It's truly a passion of mine.

The time it takes me to get the pictures edited and to the clients is lengthening more and more.  I feel like I am not able to do everything I need to do...spend quality time with my kids, unpack (nope...we aren't completely unpacked), do the updates on our new house, SLEEP, take the 2 littles to all their appointments, relax, etc.  I just can't do it all.  I want to though.  I find myself staying up way too late editing and then being tired all day.

Maybe it will get better and easier when the 2 oldest boys are in school in a few weeks...not sure.  I don't know what to do about it.  In this moment, I am just feeling overwhelmed as I look at my house with unpacked boxes, unpainted areas, laundry that needs done, clothes that need put away and then I look at my computer and see I have 3 sessions that I haven't completed editing and remember telling my clients I'll try to have their pictures done within 2 weeks.  2 weeks flies by in the blink of an eye these days. 

I'm not going to lie...the extra money is really nice too.  I mean, we're doing a lot of things to our house and we don't charge things so we NEED the cash.  And the thought of taking a "break" from it makes me feel so sad.  I'm not saying I'm going to take a break, I just don't know what to do.  Maybe minisessions?  I don't know.  I'm just stressed about it.

And now it's almost midnight and I'm SO CLOSE to getting 1 of my sessions edited (by "so close", I mean about 2 hours away) so do I just suck it up and stay up so I can move onto the next one or do I go to bed so I am not miserably tired all day tomorrow?  Ugh.

Knowing me, I'll probably stay up...

2 comments:

Candi said...

Don't stay up... use nap time to do the editing and don't rush your unpacking.... that can wait. Don't schedule too many photo shoots... ya, right, like you're going to listen to ME!! Ha!!

JamieLynne said...

I have been there but one less kid and without a new house. But I have lately made a "work schedule" for myself. So I pick two days say, and spend 2 hours by myself with a goal to edit 12-14 photos. That gives you 10 minutes a picture. I have started to decide before which look I am going for and stick to it so I don't have to experiment with any actions etc. If you can get one pic every 10 mins, you can edit a session in 5 hours (including sorting). I usually open 6 images in pse, and have a goal to finish those 6 in the hour. If I go looking for a photo in between each one it takes longer for me. Good luck!!