I thought you might be interested in a typical summer day in the life of this soap maker. I can’t speak for all soap makers, but this is a pretty typical summer day for me.
The alarm goes off at 7 and I don’t want to get out of bed. (I didn’t sleep well last night. I start organizing the next day before I go to sleep and last night was like many others. Too many ideas running through my head to get down on to a list, so I keep a note pad next to my bed to write them down as they come to the surface.) I hit snooze once, get up, shower and brush my teeth because I have a 7:45 appointment for blood work. I make most all of my doctor appointments in the summer so I don’t need to take time off from my day job.
Out of the lab by 8 (Wow!) and I stop at Starbucks and treat myself to my favorite drink. Hot cocoa with a shot of espresso. Sitting at a table, I put all my notes from last night together and now have a plan for the day.
Home by 8:45 and had the house vacuumed by 9. Time to start working on soap!
I opened my emails. There was a request for a private soap making class so I set up a class for Alana. A Bed and Breakfast on the north fork of Long Island contacted me regarding specialty soaps for their guests and I followed up with that. Once the emails were done, I had some website updating to do, fixing the inventory numbers and tweaking some descriptions. That took over an hour. I called 2 chemical companies for information I needed regarding microbiological testing for lotions. I wrote a blog post.
Suddenly, it’s noon. As I break for lunch my son Steve comes in so I get to have lunch with him. A nice surprise!
At 12:30 I’m back at the computer. The notes I took as I was on the phone with the chemical companies needs to be organized. I start compiling microbiological and stability testing information for lotions, making a spread sheet so it’s easy to read. This took a big chunk of my time but I’m happy I finally have it finished.
At 3 I meet with my Diane, my graphic designer from Digho. I’m thinking about selling scented oils to match my soaps and I need Diane to design the labels. I know what I’m good at (making soap) and what I’m not (any kind of design work) and I’d rather hire a professional to do what I can’t.
We’re done at 3:30 and I stop at the bank to make a deposit and the Post Office to drop off orders. I arrived at Panera early, I’m meeting a friend for an early dinner, and I spend the time cleaning out my pocketbook and returning emails.
After catching up with Cindy, I’m at Farmingdale College at 5:30 for my night shift in the Biology department. During the summer, I work as instructional support in Anatomy and Physiology. It was a slow night, and I had time to scribble some notes that are now becoming this blog.
Home at 10:45. I made myself some tea and sat down to plan tomorrow. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I’m in bed by 11:30.
Gratitude for a typical day
I’m grateful for the time I had today (and every day in the summer) to catch up on my business. It’s interesting, I spent most of the day working on my soap business, but I didn’t make a batch of soap at all. I probably won’t make soap tomorrow either, yet I’ll be busy working on my business. That’s how it is most of the time. The making of the soap is a very small part of having a business. On a typical day I may not make soap at all, but my favorite days are the days I do.
What are you grateful for this week?
Yours in Gratitude,
Angela
I loved reading about your day! You are one busy lady! Also working in school, I find that my summer days I either have nothing to do or I’m up to the wee hours of the early AM making everything work. I love your point about soap – so true! I find that I actually make soap just about once a month; I’ll go on a bender for a bunch of loaves, and then won’t make anything for weeks. Thanks for sharing!
Most people think we spend all day making soap. If only that were the truth! 🙂
My day is similar in that it is all over the place, but with my own list!
I’d be lost without my list!
You are one busy woman. Thanks for posting this, I find it interesting to see how you spend your day. I love anatomy and physiology, it made me happy to see you are teaching this class.
Sharon I assist the professor in the class. I do enjoy the students though. Summer school is condensed and pretty intense, and they seem to be able to keep up.
Thanks for sharing your busy day. I think most people assume because I work from home that I sit on the couch and play on Facebook. I put more hours in now than I did when I had a full-time position. Oh, and mmm cocoa with espresso.
Try hot cocoa with espresso sometime Donna. My friend Holly is from Colorado and she says out there they call it a dirty Santa. I call it yummy. 🙂
how many hours in a week?
I’d say it’s a full time job, around 40. But I’m not just making soap all day. A lot of that is social media, placing orders, and networking. So it’s really hard to place a number on the hours. Hope this helps!