How do you keep motivated ref work???

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zombie

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As a manic depressive that works on my own. I constantly feel totally overwhelmed daily on what I need to do to keep jobs on track, fetching gear, invoices, pricing blabla so that the diary doesn't run away etc.

Also despite what some seem to say rates are still crap round our way so in order to bring in the money your having to do that bit more every day than you used to.

Anyhows I guess the obvious answer is put your prices up and take your time and work less days but like a lot on here I guess I don't advertise and all work is either trades and such that worked for for yrs that you get lent on to fit there schedules and or not being able to fit people in that you've also done work for before etc.

So what do you lot do to stop yourselves burning out and reduce your working week?

At the minute booked up for about 8wks which yeah fair doos is great but on the flip side I bloody hate the phone ringing now as before I know it I just blurt out that il work the wknd etc

????:RpS_crying:
 
Can't reduce my working week. I work 6 days every week, sometimes 7. Half 7 till 5-5.30. Most of my work is for regular customers or someone that my regulars have recommended me to. The thing I find hardest us finding reliable help, so end up doing nearly all of it myself. It's ******* hard!
 
It is difficult @zombie and there is no happy medium, being quiet or busy both bring their stresses. Sometimes just having a healthy bank balance isn't always the ultimate answer to it all. When I worked on my own and my business was just starting to get its feet in the ground I worked in exactly the same way you described, I have never suffered depression but for years I suffered social anxiety and panic attacks. This would reflect in my work as the only way I could keep on top of it all was to graft, run around pricing, organise jobs Tec etc that motivation you are looking for is a hard thing to find some days, hypnotherapy worked well for me, really helped flush out all the negative Shiite and irrational self doubt. I remember you mentioning your problem with depression on here before, hope you find a way through it bud
 
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i lie to people , i allways tell them say im going to at least a month when i know i could do the job in two weeks time , some dont wait some do , but that takes off pressure , builders i find are the worst they pressure you and phone you like mad , but the real funny bit is when you do there job , you dont here from them till they want something else done :RpS_sneaky: all in all i tend not to worry about work treat it like a game , hope things sort there self out for you zombie

dont worry about the end of the world this friday ..............
 
Olican said:
It is difficult @zombie and there is no happy medium, being quiet or busy both bring their stresses. Sometimes just having a healthy bank balance isn't always the ultimate answer to it all. When I worked on my own and my business was just starting to get its feet in the ground I worked in exactly the same way you described, I have never suffered depression but for years I suffered social anxiety and panic attacks. This would reflect in my work as the only way I could keep on top of it all was to graft, run around pricing, organise jobs Tec etc that motivation you are looking for is a hard thing to find some days, hypnotherapy worked well for me, really helped flush out all the negative Shiite and irrational self doubt. I remember you mentioning your problem with depression on here before, hope you find a way through it bud
Click to expand...

thanks oli appreciated mate:RpS_thumbup:
 
church said:
i lie to people , i allways tell them say im going to at least a month when i know i could do the job in two weeks time , some dont wait some do , but that takes off pressure , builders i find are the worst they pressure you and phone you like mad , but the real funny bit is when you do there job , you dont here from them till they want something else done :RpS_sneaky: all in all i tend not to worry about work treat it like a game , hope things sort there self out for you zombie

dont worry about the end of the world this friday ..............
Click to expand...
:RpS_crying:

thanks church appreciated bud....:RpS_thumbup:

and yes that's soooooooo true ref builders in fact I packed in working for 1 this yr that was a real good payer regular extension and such but the constant pressure of


having to jump and drop everything and other customers as soon as there jobs was ready was realy starting to do my nut in...and as you say I made myself un

available for 1 job and that was it never been called since and that was after 3 yr and probabbley 20 extensions ina row for them...

tbh I think id be better off being a posty or summet with no pressure but wouldn't even know how to get at job after 15yr of working for my tod now!!!
 
when we get snowed under with work i can call upon my other sons, my brother , my nephews who all have their own plastering business. last ditch i know a couple of site workers who will come and help me because i pay them over the site rate.
i only price up one job per evening. if i find out that the work is going out to contact i do not bother to quote.
we only work for private customers, councils, insurance cos. and 2 building contractors who i have worked for, one for 40 years and the other for 10 years and they have never let me down with their payments.
 
Reliable help I guess? If I am looking to work with someone I'll always try and pick someone who fills in the gaps I leave. Whether that is paperwork for you (sounds like it, organisationally things piling up on you) or tidiness for some people. I guess I mean not experienced plastering but running another business this is what I did.
 
zombie said:
:RpS_crying:

thanks church appreciated bud....:RpS_thumbup:

and yes that's soooooooo true ref builders in fact I packed in working for 1 this yr that was a real good payer regular extension and such but the constant pressure of


having to jump and drop everything and other customers as soon as there jobs was ready was realy starting to do my nut in...and as you say I made myself un

available for 1 job and that was it never been called since and that was after 3 yr and probabbley 20 extensions ina row for them...

tbh I think id be better off being a posty or summet with no pressure but wouldn't even know how to get at job after 15yr of working for my tod now!!!
Click to expand...


Just do your best , no one can ask more of u , and if they do pudlove knows some people :rolleyes)
 
One thing that definitely helped for me was turning everything over to the accountant. Now the only thing I have to do with the paperwork is shove it all in a folder and drop it off to them each month. No more messing about with VAT or HMRC for me. :RpS_thumbup:

On the work side of things, as mentioned above I struggle to find reliable people as labourers or multi-skilled to work for me. So I gave that up as a bad idea last year. Now I just get self employed people in on a per-job basis, Nisus for example, and price accordingly. The additional amount that you pay for a skilled person is soon made up by the saving on paying some Herbert to fiddle with his mobile phone. :RpS_sneaky:

One final thing to mention that I changed last year, I don't work weekends. An often used and favourite phrase of mine now is "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine." :RpS_laugh:
 
I left the house at 7am this morning, did 132 miles, saw 4 jobs, did 1 small job, did snagging on 2 jobs and declined the invitation to a "site meeting" at 8pm.
Got home at 7pm, loaded for tomorrow by 7.20pm ..... total earnings = £50

Just one of those days I'm afraid! :RpS_thumbdn:
 
I actualy don't give a fck about builders or customers anymore, I turn up early knock the job out leave it good, to be quite honest from 7am all I think about is getting in the pub then I get there and its disappointing,not like it used to be when pubs where full of builders every evening now I just end up having a couple of pints then home,ile do a Sat morning now and again just to push a job on but basicly I hate work nowadays as has been said cant get the staff anymore so you end up doing it yourself.
 
I was working for a builder regular for 10 years . The architects they worked for were a nightmare. Always trying to make a saving here and there then bung a kitchen in that cost 40 grand. And who suffers . We do. The last three jobs I did for them I had to knock money off because it was too expensive .b*ll***s. We grafted like fook left a good clean, client over the moon then next thing the builders is docking money, whilst most other trades are wandering around with they're fingers up they're arses having proper brew times
Another job for them was middle of winter over skimming working till 9 at night to get m2 in whilst every one else buggers off at4:30 and we were not messing about its because we were working miles away from home with 3 lads cards in and had to cover wages.
The last job I looked at the builder said to me we have to make a saving on this one. I thought here we go again. Another job I'm gonna end up doing for **** all.
Just so happens that this time I was busy on a job, fantastic customers , great payers, so I said to the builders I was too busy and they have not rung me since.
That was about a year ago and I come across one of they're employees the other day he said the spreads they get now only do one coat skimming.
Oh well that's where I've been going wrong all these years . Two coat skimming and leaving a good job. Counts for nowt
 
zombie said:
As a manic depressive that works on my own. I constantly feel totally overwhelmed daily on what I need to do to keep jobs on track, fetching gear, invoices, pricing blabla so that the diary doesn't run away etc.

Also despite what some seem to say rates are still crap round our way so in order to bring in the money your having to do that bit more every day than you used to.

Anyhows I guess the obvious answer is put your prices up and take your time and work less days but like a lot on here I guess I don't advertise and all work is either trades and such that worked for for yrs that you get lent on to fit there schedules and or not being able to fit people in that you've also done work for before etc.

So what do you lot do to stop yourselves burning out and reduce your working week?

At the minute booked up for about 8wks which yeah fair doos is great but on the flip side I bloody hate the phone ringing now as before I know it I just blurt out that il work the wknd etc

????:RpS_crying:
Click to expand...

chin up, zombie :RpS_thumbup: what you've got they used to call the blues. nothing is really wrong, but you're feeling like you don't belong? and rainy days and mondays get you down? it happens to us all, mate. you'll pull through. go out and get laid. or go and blow some money in a casino .. :RpS_unsure:
 
Apparently, California has the highest rates of depression and adultery in America.


Sounds like a sad state of affairs
 
Jurek said:
chin up, zombie :RpS_thumbup: what you've got they used to call the blues. nothing is really wrong, but you're feeling like you don't belong? and rainy days and mondays get you down? it happens to us all, mate. you'll pull through. go out and get laid. or go and blow some money in a casino .. :RpS_unsure:
Click to expand...

thanks jurek think your right bud!:RpS_thumbup:

don't think its helping that at the moment im on a 3wk job in the same house and its proper starting to do my nut in used to do such jobs 50/50 with another spread but ive stopped doing them with him now as im the mug that's supplying all the gear,chasing payment and getting all the hassle oh and end up doing more graft while he mopes about with his thumb up his arse looking busy but just faffing whilst getting the same money and then having to check over his work and start arguing about it!!!
 
3kids1dog said:
I was working for a builder regular for 10 years . The architects they worked for were a nightmare. Always trying to make a saving here and there then bung a kitchen in that cost 40 grand. And who suffers . We do. The last three jobs I did for them I had to knock money off because it was too expensive .b*ll***s. We grafted like fook left a good clean, client over the moon then next thing the builders is docking money, whilst most other trades are wandering around with they're fingers up they're arses having proper brew times
Another job for them was middle of winter over skimming working till 9 at night to get m2 in whilst every one else buggers off at4:30 and we were not messing about its because we were working miles away from home with 3 lads cards in and had to cover wages.
The last job I looked at the builder said to me we have to make a saving on this one. I thought here we go again. Another job I'm gonna end up doing for **** all.
Just so happens that this time I was busy on a job, fantastic customers , great payers, so I said to the builders I was too busy and they have not rung me since.
That was about a year ago and I come across one of they're employees the other day he said the spreads they get now only do one coat skimming.
Oh well that's where I've been going wrong all these years . Two coat skimming and leaving a good job. Counts for nowt
Click to expand...


your bang on mate...first trade on last trade off worse paid and the minute you let anywork slip every man and there dog can see it so your screwed!!!
 
Think i suffer from depression. Made worse by my unexpected seperation/divorce in jan.. think some of us are hard wired to feel low more than others
 
When I got depressed, I joined the Army.

I didn't have any experience or motivation, I just wanted a soldier to cry on.
 
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