I’m sure every soloprenuer has been caught in a similar situation – last week I had to run into town to do some errands before the weekend rolled around and most things were closed.
It seemed like a simple enough plan, however nowadays going to town means a half-hour trip each way so of course we try to save everything we can until we can do one big trip. I thought it would be no big deal to do a bunch of work in the early morning, then go do the errands, and then pick up again after lunch. Well, life never goes that smoothly, does it?
Before we knew it, one hour led into the next, then we got hungry, then remembered more errands that we had forgotten about, then squeezed in a few more since we were in the neighbourhood, etc. etc. It was almost 4:30 by the time we got back home and by that time I was all in a huff because I hadn’t realized until near the end of our epic adventure just what time it actually was! But on the ride home I realized that worrying about getting home faster wasn’t going to help me get anything done, and it would all just have to wait until I arrived.
And, once I arrived I methodically checked everything, made a list and starting checking things off in priority. In the end, there really wasn’t anything that was “emergency caliber”, and all is well that ends well.
So, the moral of this story is that if you inadvertently get caught away from your office longer than intended, don’t panic! Keep calm and when you are back in action you can tackle everything that needs to be done far smoother than if your feathers are ruffled.
P.S. I forgot to mention that it might be a good idea to try to not plan your intended short absences around any major meetings or tasks that must happen at a specific time, otherwise then you might be in bigger trouble if you’re caught out late!