Writing workshop yesterday evening was followed by a few hours of sitting on the couch packaging up treat boxes, which actually does take time — it’s funny, there’s a part of my brain that really has a hard time internalizing that certain things take time. Apparently, I think that:
• probably lots of other stuff I’m not aware of
…just happen instantaneously. They do not.
Packing up just five small treat boxes, for example — putting the sweets in cute little containers, adding stickers and ribbon, Valentine’s hearts and tissue paper, double-checking to make sure the right things are in the order, sealing them up, printing out a shipping label and putting it on — all of that took a solid hour, for only five orders.
I mean, it was a pleasant hour, accompanied by the season 4 finale of The Magicians, so it didn’t feel like very hard work or anything. Kind of a nice break after a long day of brain work; I didn’t want to think anymore, and dropping little pink hearts into boxes was just about my speed right then.
But it definitely took time. I imagine if I did this as a full-time business, I would find ways to be more efficient about it, with batch packaging, but still — packing time is real time, and should not be discounted.
Little business lessons just keep coming. 
