On Stress & Being Envious of People's Clean Homes

Until November, I think we really had our life on a roll. Our house wasn't too messy (but not too clean either), dinner was always on the table by 6 (or 7...) and we had a perfectly behaved dog, Lucky. I would come home, catch up on my tv shows, relax, make dinner... life was easy! But then a few things went wrong:

• We got Crash, our super cute-as-hell mini/toy Australian shepherd, who started out behaving like an angel and now he loves to make me insane by carrying poop and mud into the house with him every day. He's still the size of a large rabbit, which is awesome, but it means he is fast- really fast- and also so adorable it makes it impossible to punish him. He makes me insane. And makes my house dirty.
• My business took off quick. I don't mean like, sales slowly built until I got really busy, I mean I went from 0-60 in 3.5 (if you've got the keys, shut up and driveeeee! Sorry, couldn't help myself.). What I thought was a fun hobby became the thing that takes up the most of my time. And because I can't ever take a break, amidst the hundreds of orders coming in, I started marketing to blogs, which meant every time one of them featured me, I'd get a ton more sales and a ton more Instagram followers, which again lead to a ton more sales. I had created a wildfire, which was wonderful, but also incredibly time-consuming and it meant if I spent time cleaning my house, orders would go out late. If I had dinner on the table before 8pm, orders would go out late. It was a vicious circle.
• My husband had to start coming upstairs to play video games in my office just to be able to spend time with me. Because I am a one-woman business, every dollar coming in meant someone was depending on ME to get them their product in time, and while my husband was supportive, he was also neglected. On top of the house being neglected. And the doggies. I was officially a hot mess. Not to mention it's almost February and my house is still decorated for Christmas.
• I went to a girlfriends house to do a little photoshoot with my onesies on her baby, and when I walked in, it was spotless. And I mean SPOTLESS. We are the same age, she has two kids, and her house was immaculate. Not just tidy, but CLEAN. I immediately had a mental freak out. Then I realized "If she can do it, so can I." It was time to get my shit together.

So what do I do to remedy this? Have a mental breakdown about a completely unrelated subject, force myself off the computer, downstairs and start cleaning. Then get bored of cleaning (obviously), start a few text convos with girlfriends, and make an amazing dinner to make up for the lack of cooking lately. I swear there's nothing more therapeutic than a gigantic pork chop, just saying. 

I know we all handle stress different ways, and for me, eating was always the way. It no longer can be, because I was seeking out emotional stability through boxes of Cheez-its, and I gave up that bad habit. Some people excerise to relieve stress. I hate working out. I do it occasionally anyway, but I hate it. So I had to pinpoint what my biggest stressors were so I could work them out accordingly. My biggest stressors were not only the people who have paid me and are waiting for their orders, but my house. I love my house, and seeing it become neglected made me more stressed than anything. So my house has to become my number one. When you are proud of where you live, you are a happier person. I am extremely visual; when I was younger I always said you could tell my state of mind by how messy my room was, and ours has been messy for months. So to clear my head, this week I will be focusing on organizing and getting rid of things, and I will post my progress next week.

My goals for the week:

• Figure out a better schedule for the dogs and spend more time with them at the dog park and taking them on walks to release some of that crazy energy. Clean up after them every time they come inside with mud on their feet. Learn to punish them for bad behavior.
• Put my Etsy shop on Vacation Mode. I need to just suck it up and do this! I worry my sales will slow down but who am I kidding, I can't keep up right now!
• Allot a certain amount of time per day to my shop, and the rest to my home and husband.
• Cut back on the clutter. Stop leaving things around just because I am lazy! Return all the crap in the corner I meant to return to the store months ago.
• Relax. Watch my tv shows if I want! But get. stuff. done.