Tired and Frustrated with Shipping? - Let me share a story

DoNotInsertIntoMouth · 2014-03-22T16:35:34.000Z

So I here people mention this a lot and I totally understand - 1. Frustrated with Idiot buyers 2. TIred of going to the post office everyday. 3. Want to smash your tape dispenser 4. Done with printing labels and paying stupid USPS inflated prices. 5. Done with USPS losing packages And more and more. So I thought I would share what is helping me through this on the off chance it might help someone else. I am a candid guy - probably too open sometimes - but in January I was really really struggling with this. December burned me out some and made me realize that I was frustrating myself to much. This was complicated by the fact that I was diagnosed with Depression several years ago. I have, through medicine and being lucky to have a fairly good life, conquered it for the most part. However, when I get tremendously stressed out, frustrated, or angry it causes a relapse which is tough to deal with. So I did a couple of things to figure this out because I knew I didn't want to quit. And I hope some of these things help you guys dealing with the same stuff. Just because you love something doesn't mean that its not capable of causing you serious grief. 1. I took a break. This was imperative. Not to just give myself a little time away, but to rethink what I was doing and accomplish the rest of the points. I was always afraid to put the store on vacation because I am losing money. Its an easy thing to consider though - How much money do you lose if you have to quit because you can't handle the stress? 2. Limit the stress factors. This one is tough, but probably the second most important to breaks. I sat down and actually wrote down everything that pisses me off about selling. That in itself was stressful, but I said to myself "what do I have control over here?". One thing I did was got Ebay notifications on my phone - every sale, message, etc. The thing is, I have another job. Everytime I get a message, I would immediately look at it and answer it. I got to the point where every time I got a message, my phone would buzz and I would think "Dammit some idiot buyer is mad about something." or "USPS lost something again". Several times a day I was stressing myself through diverted attention from whatever I was actually doing. So I eliminated the notifications. Instead I set times for myself when I would check messages, sales, etc. I made a routine. I check in the morning before work and after when I get home and answer everything then. Otherwise I don't even pay attention to it. Mad buyers is another issue. I say to myself - "People will be mad - let it go". So now i just apologize and do what i can to help them. I NEVER look at my feedback rating anymore. I trust that if I do things right no one is leaving me a negative. I used to check it everyday. Not worth it. Obviously there is more here, but to be brief (lol, right?) PM me and I would be happy to tell you more stuff I changed for this. 3. Improve Efficiency Things are a lot less stressful and a things don't go wrong as much when you are efficient. I now use small bags for all my minifigures so they can't lose their weapons, etc. I bought storage units to store and separate them with labels so they are easy to fine. I bought a label printer which has been amazing. I streamlined my process of packing. I changed my opening and parting out sets routine - I only do it on the weekends so I don't do it while I am tired from my normal job. 4. Take Better Records Tax time is pretty stressful no matter what. But doing it once showed me how I need to take down documentation for the rest of the time I do this. Next years taxes will be much easier and that makes me feel a lot better about the whole ordeal. 5. Find ways to make the stressful parts more fun I hate the packing - especially if I have like 30 packages to ship. So I had to find a good way to make it so after doing it I didn't feel like I wanted to punch through a wall. I am not ashamed to say, mine is music. I am a musician and obviously love music. I found that if I am blasting Led Zeppelin during packing, I don't hate it near as much. I do not pack without music playing anymore at all. I only part out sets while watching some of my favorite shows: Seinfeld, Workaholics, Law and Order, etc. 6. Be Cleaner I absolutely believe - a cluttered work space is a cluttered mind. At work people make fun of me because my work area looks like ground zero from a zombie movie. So I have changed the way I work and the space I do it in. It is MUCH less stressful to have plenty of space and have a clean area. My solution was to put built lego sets in it. I do not clutter my lego sets. There you go people. Long-winded, but I felt like I should share it. PM me if you have anymore questions or if you are feeling done with things. I know how it goes and believe me - as much as you feel like you can handle it, that feeling is a sickness no different than working with the flu. Its just mental instead of physical.