Burning out?

I'm back to working outside the house (I'm a Registered Veterinary Technician) part-time, so my already over-full schedule is just that much tighter now. And I've found myself not enjoying working on my Etsy shops, or even my writing. I get stressed out doing these things that used to be how I relaxed. Very troubling.

I believe that in my quest to make money so that I can come back home to be with my kids I've sapped the fun out of what I used to love. I won't let myself work on anything that I can't make money on. This isn't right. For one thing, I spend all of my sewing time re-making things that have sold, instead of experimenting with my ideas. At this rate I'll never create truly new items, and it's the 'creating something new' part that I love. I stress over saleable articles and don't work on my beloved fiction.

So I may become 'unproductive' for awhile, in that I plan to work on things I've wanted to work on - a baby quilt for a friend, a grab ball for my baby, a wall hanging quilt for my oldest daughter, fiction writing, and scrapbooking - but haven't let myself do because they aren't a source of income. But if the ball and the wall hanging turn out as I hope, I may make more for my shop, and in the long run improve the variety of my offerings and make my shop even better. That's the hope anyway. My hope is that a short break from pressuring myself to make a profit on everything will leave me refreshed, and ready to keep going even stronger.

In case you think I'm really insightful or anything like that - I actually had this idea while watching "Surf's Up" with my daughter yesterday. A cute movie. Maybe one or two more poo jokes than I needed, but overall a good message. To do something really well, you need to find your joy in it.