Part of being in a community or in a family is getting to know each other. Lately, we’ve been watching a lot of getting-to-know-you and my-morning-routine videos on YouTube. I really feel closer to the people who have shared a window into their lives and I want to give you the opportunity to feel closer to us too.
Working from home for many years has allowed us to create a comfortable and enriching morning routine. We wake, discuss the news, drink coffee, eat breakfast, plan our workday together with our teenage son, then go our separate ways to accomplish all of our to-do-list tasks. Well, maybe not all of them!
After breakfast, Charles reviews all the shipments going out that day and prints any address labels from the overnight hours. He then makes notes of any inventory we need to purchase and sometimes completes those purchases during the morning. I check our emails and social media and send replies to anyone using the “Contact Us” forms here on Pendant and Ring and on social media.
After working independently, we come together to ship your packages. Charles crafts and assembles jewelry items we have not made ahead of time, and lays them out on the shipping table. I prepare the labels, packages, and thank-you notes for each shipment.
While I start wrapping things up, he answers questions and responds to comments we receive on our selling platforms. In our shared working space, we talk about things we need for the business, home, and garden. We make lists, we make plans, we generate new jewelry ideas for work, we float home improvement ideas, or reminisce about the past.
Usually, we take a small break to check out mail and for sustenance at 1pm, but it is not really lunch. It’s a glorified snack. Charles is partial to toast and coffee, while I prefer frozen grapes and water, or sometimes we share leftovers from the previous dinner. At this time we check in with our teenage son and inquire about his activities, sometimes asking him for help completing work-related tasks, like making a hammered ring or driving to the Post Office. As parents, we try to maintain a team atmosphere, to be consistently available, and to foster his independence.
After snack, we return to shipping. Your jewelry parcels must be at the Post Office, many miles away, before closing time. We take turns going to our rural Post Office every afternoon. When the Post Office Warrior returns, we have a second snack, thus concluding our spread-out version of lunch.
At this point during the day, we turn our eyes toward the future. With your jewelry orders filled and on their way, we can focus on designing new pieces, making them, and participating in social media. Charles makes and photographs new items, I write blog posts (like this one!) and we both attend to listing. Charles lists new items, and we both make necessary changes to existing listings. Some days we have more time to create and list new items and post new material. On other days we have to ship all day long and take the packages to the open-late Post Office, about 30 miles away. Then it is meal time again.
In the evenings we try not to work, but occasionally we scan emails and messages or list just a few more jewelry pieces. Working from home is not easy. We try to maintain boundaries with work, and sometimes we are very good at that, other times, not so much.
On Sunday, we try and take the afternoons “off” and by that I mean we run errands, do large housework tasks, and yard work!
Working from home requires routine, just like going to work. This is how we do it. No two days are identical, but most days are similar.
Stay Safe, practice social distancing, and we’ll talk soon, on Pendant and Ring.
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