Your life + Dread making.

[Opiate]

I haven't been able to find anything on this topic (but I'll admit, I skimmed) So feel free to delete if this is already covered

Basically, I'm curious to know how much time you guys put into dread making? And how do you juggle work/ social life/ customers?

I'm currently doing 50 hour weeks at work, and by the time I get dinner done and dusted, it's 8 30 at the earliest, Which leaves me about half an hour to an hour weeknights, and weekends (every 2nd weekend gets taken up by DJ'ing) and I'm finding I have to juggle my social life in with that too. (it also means I can only take on 1-2 orders at a time, but I'm okay with that Less stress hehe)

How do you all manage? Do you work full time too? Or is making dreads a full time thing?

[CherryLex]

I work full time, do other things part time (right now I'm rehearsing for a play 10 hours or so a week) and also make hats & hair accessories. I'm lucky in that I work 4 ten hour days so I have 3 days off every week. This affords me a little extra time to work on things at home. That said, I don't actually often sell dreads. I make sets for myself and friends, engage in the occasional swap and, if time permits, I'll take on a custom order - that is very rare for me.
I do vend at events so I spend some time making pre-made sets for display and sale. Otherwise between housework, my jobs and my hobbies all my time is quickly used up!

[Librarynerd]

I work 40hrs a week but am pretty much a homebody on my off hours. I don't sell dreads, I make them for myself and for swaps. I usually make about 5 dreads a night while watching TV.

[[Phexxie]]

i ended up giving up dread making when i started working full time... 12 hours in work does not make you want to use your days off for making dreads... or doing much of anything really!

i was finding it too hard to keep finishing custom orders to a decent length of time, plus i model, have a far-away boyfriend to visit, shoppig to do and i make a lot of things for shoots... dread making started to seem like the least important and the least likely thing i would miss

though i do miss it an awful lot and i would love to start again if i thought i would have the time to get sets doe within a month or two... and not six or eight ¬_¬

[Gracey]

I work full-time in the dread industry which can sometimes see me putting in 60+ hours per week. It can be quite hard to motivate myself to sit down and work on making dreads when I've spent my day at work installing or working on a head.

At any given time, I will usually have at least two projects up and running at home, in varying stages of completion. I tend to tackle whichever is most pressing or whichever is at a stage I feel like working at. I have them up and running and on hand so that I can sit down and do an hour or so when I get chance throughout the day. I have been known to set my alarm for silly-o'clock so I can get some production in before work. I can end up feeling like a machine.

[pinky]

i work a full time job where i take care of 16 developmentally disabled people so i'm tired when i get home >.< but i try to spend the wee hours of the morning when i'd just be sitting around to make dreads and then seal them on one of my days off. it works pretty well and i tend to get my orders done fairly quickly. i don't always stick to that formula tho >.< and that's where i end up rushing later. trying to balance a social life becomes difficult.

[HairAndStuff]

I work 30 to 40 hours a week from home, at nights, although I'd hardly call it work. I won't get into too much detail but it only involves being on the phone, and only when people call me. Luckily (or not, I work for commission only), I can go for hours without a call and can sit here and make dreads. Granted, if I made dreads for the entire 6-8 hours I was out here I would probably get burnt out, but I try really hard to be as productive as possible.

I try to dedicate any and all time I have with my daughter and my husband totally away from my work station and having family time. Luckily, I'm kind of a hermit and don't have much of a social life outside from my family. But that's fine for me, that's how I like it ^_^ Although, once I start school full time in the fall I'm not sure I'm going to handle this. I'll be quitting my regular "job" and will have to basically make dreads while I study and such. I'm not sure how that will go with how many orders I have pending, but all I can do is do my best.

[SdSiNthetics]

I am a full time mum, I also help look after an ill relative and keep the house tidy and neat. I am doing a BA hons (degree) and I make 1-2 sets a week. Socially I travel to the nearest city a lot as my friends are there, but since my study has becoming more intense and my hairs in more demand I don't get much of a chance to do that.

I suppose I don't get a lot of free time, I just never really realised before now ^^

[harlequin]

i work full time (37.5hrs/week) and also study in the evenings now too.
I used to make 10 dreads or so per night after work, but now i prefer to back comb an entire set one weekend and then steam the next weekend. If its a small set (up to 30 dreads) i tend to stay up super late friday night after work and finish the lot then steam them saturday morning. Ive cut down alot on the amount of orders im prepared to take, now only accepting around one quarter of what i would have done originally so i can have time to study aswell as work.

[blu3linn]

i've always worked full time and i used to make lots of dreads after work previously. i've never really had a business website, just myspace and a little bit on here and friends. after a while, my wrist got into some pains and then i moved country. over the last 2 years i've only made dreads for friends and the some others who might have asked. i've found myself drawn to other things at the moment too. variation is the key. at the moment i knit, paint sneakers, sew... do partner's and occassionally a friend'ss hair.

i'm happy ¨___^