Just One of Those Weeks

A tale of the time thief

Sometimes you just have to accept that it has been one of those weeks. I should have recognised it from the start - a migraine spanning the entire weekend. This always puts me on the back foot as everything I would have done at the weekend (work and home) now needs to be squeezed into the week alongside everything that I already had planned to get done in the week too.  

Migraine is a neurological disorder, they effect twice as many women as men, and the causes are still unclear. I can tell you from my own personal experience that they are debilitating; time stealers that not only effects you but those you love. If you are interested you can find out more about migraines here, although the best article I have ever read about migraines was written in the New Scientist but is behind a paywall - if you happen to have a subscription you can read it here. Although if you are a migraineur I would really recommend reading it, it really helped me to understand why I react to certain things and situations may in fact be due to my migraine brain.

During a migraine I can't look at screens at all or make any kind of decision whatsoever. My brain completely shuts down (to be honest I can't really get my head off the pillow due to severe pain and nausea). As a small business owner that is a bit of a problem as trying to decide what to post on social media becomes pretty much impossible. Luckily this weekend I had a bit of video content I had made earlier and the lovely Mr B edited it for me (as well as looking after me). I managed to write an extremely brief caption and post it on Saturday - which for anyone who has or knows anyone with migraines will appreciate that is a pretty big win. However, on Sunday for the first time since launching Small Kindness I didn't post anything on social media. Obviously this isn't a complete disaster but if you are a new, small business and you are trying to build momentum on social media it isn't something I want to do regularly...

Another issue with migraines is they don't just end (or start for that matter but I'll save that for another day!)- after the pain and nausea you get what is called the postdrome and I can only describe it as a migraine hangover. Generally this lasts for a couple of days after the migraine, you are exhausted and your brain feels like it is in a fog but because you feel a bit better you want to get on and make up for all the time you have lost. It makes everything feel like a bit of a struggle (including making any kind of decision, no matter how small). Unfortunately this week I was planning on making a decision on the base recipe for my soaps (so nothing too important then!). And the upshot is I haven't managed to make that decision, in fact all I have done is plan more soaps!!

So what have I learnt as a small business owner who suffers with chronic migraines? My timelines aren't always going to quite work out quite how I planned and I have to be happy with that. And put some flex in my planning. Deferring an important decision- when my brain is full of a migraine fog and I can't see a clear answer - is always the right thing to do! And for social media, not posting is ok. But I think what I need to do is plan some back up social media posts that are ready to go for days when looking at a screen (well looking at anything really) is a complete no no. That would also help relieve some of the stress and anxiety that comes along with the migraine (I am not doing anything, but x y and z needs doing etc etc). And I need to remember it is ok not to do anything.

And as it turns out this week hasn't been a complete disaster. I have managed to send my three new soaps to my Mum and Dad to try, and for the all important hard water test (hopefully arriving sometime today 💚). I sent out my weekly newsletter, made some soap yesterday and most importantly I managed my walk and talk with my friend- which will always, however rubbish my week has been, cheer me up (#highlightoftheweek)!

So I am off to cut up my soap, until next time, take care xx

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I am Kelly Townsend and this is the Small Kindness Blog. I am a scientist, a bee lover, a rewilding obsessive, and I want to spread Small Kindnesses through the medium of soap. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for your daily dose of kindness (as well as to see how the soap making is going!)