Last night Howard and I spent some time reviewing all the things we need to get done this week and making contingency plans in case things go wrong. I found myself very stressed over the fact that I’m currently short about 400 mailers. I ordered them over a month ago, the shipment got lost. I called the company last Monday and they sent a new shipment which they assured me would arrive last Friday. It didn’t. Howard kept coming up with calm/logical plans about what we’ll do if the mailers don’t show up in time. I found myself vehemently resisting being de-stressed.
When I took a step back to analyse this behavior I realized that it was classic displacement. There are so many ways the book mailing could go wrong and it is so important to get it right. This creates a lot of free floating tension, but nothing to DO about it. It was almost comforting to have a small aspect to be actively stressed over. If I was focused on the lack of mailers I couldn’t see potential larger stresses like “what if the books don’t show up until Friday?” or “What if the books show up and they’re poorly constructed?” I’m so tense and I won’t feel relaxed until people start recieving their books and loving them.
This morning I needed to finish printing out addresses and postage. To do so requires an internet connection. Guess what is currently not working. I’m trying very hard not to fly into a dithering panic over this. At least we got things straightened out with the credit card company. They took one look at $650 of postage purchasing, called it suspicious activity, and put a hold on the card. I’ve still got $900 more postage to put on that card. When the bill comes I’ll pay it off with shipping & handling money.
So with no mailers to prep and no ability to print postage I’m searching for something I can be doing NOW. Something I can get done so that I don’t have to do it later. Later this week is only going to get busier. I should probably tackle the Release Party menu and purchasing list.
And I should Not Panic. I should definitely Not Panic.
If it helps any, I’d be more than glad to wait until next month for the book. No sense making yourself grey over this. Take care.
If it helps any, I’d be more than glad to wait until next month for the book. No sense making yourself grey over this. Take care.
Menu??
Wow… I figured it would be, you know… Pizza…
If it helps your stress level at all, I enjoy freaking out pizza places at noon with 100 dollar pizza orders…
Menu??
Wow… I figured it would be, you know… Pizza…
If it helps your stress level at all, I enjoy freaking out pizza places at noon with 100 dollar pizza orders…
Panic? Nah…
You’re right, don’t panic. This is simple, m’friend.
Breathing – now that can be tricky from time to time. As the coffee cup wisdom goes, “Breathe. Everything else is a detail.”
I’m SURE you’ve got backup plans. Worst case, you run to Wallyworld and get manilla envelopes, and buy a LOT of stamps from your friendly local post office, and a fresh sponge to save your tongue the trouble of licking ’em all. *smile* It’s not that rough. You’ve got the bulk of the material on hand. Just put ’em together and improvise the rest as needed!
-John
Panic? Nah…
You’re right, don’t panic. This is simple, m’friend.
Breathing – now that can be tricky from time to time. As the coffee cup wisdom goes, “Breathe. Everything else is a detail.”
I’m SURE you’ve got backup plans. Worst case, you run to Wallyworld and get manilla envelopes, and buy a LOT of stamps from your friendly local post office, and a fresh sponge to save your tongue the trouble of licking ’em all. *smile* It’s not that rough. You’ve got the bulk of the material on hand. Just put ’em together and improvise the rest as needed!
-John
Re: Menu??
The “menu” will consist of ready-made items purchased from Sam’s Club. I had to figure out what we wanted and how much of it we wanted. It’s all done now. I have a shopping list and a price estimate which is all I need do for today.
Re: Menu??
The “menu” will consist of ready-made items purchased from Sam’s Club. I had to figure out what we wanted and how much of it we wanted. It’s all done now. I have a shopping list and a price estimate which is all I need do for today.