Good leaflet distribution a hard job! Certainly when you are not used to it. Not that it's all bad - far from it I'd say there are many benefits. Perhaps I should start with the apparent downsides first - so I can end on an upbeat note. We would start early - so if you aren't used to getting up in the morning this would be the first thing to confront - getting up at 6:00am in the morning so you can get to work for 7:00pm. Except you aren't at work yet really - you just have arrived in time to get the second bus - van really - and pick up the leaflets and find out were you are going. After a bit of faffing it's off on the second journey were in 10 minutes or even an hour you can actually start work - distributing leaflets. Most companies, though not all, only start paying you at this point! Some do pay well though which helps to make up for it see leaflet distribution.
We had a map and the streets to "hit". Fairly often we were to target a particular kind of household or avoid a type depending on the services we were promoting. Sometimes we had 4 or 5 leaflets to distribute - more rarely just one. Needless to say the weather had a big impact on the feel-good factor! A bit like being a farm labourer in victorian times. I used to wonder why books written in 'older times' had such an obsession with the weather, stars and the seasons in general. I assumed it was because they had nothing better to talk about since they had no TV or Internet. After being a leafleter for a while I realised there was a better reason. When you work outdoors whatever the weather then it all becomes much more important and significant. As Billy Connolly once said - "there is no such thing as the wrong weather - only the wrong clothes!". How true! Forget a jumper of a good waterproof coat and you would have good cause to regret it I assure you. That includes a big hat in the summer when it is hot. This also made me realise why 'hats' were such a big thing in times gone by. They seemed to me to just be a fashion accessory (and a poor one at that) until I did leafleting. Then I discovered how valuable they can be when you are stuck in the rain and need both hands or stuck in a hot sun - and yes, it does get hot in the UK - surprisingly so. It is much easier than I thought to get a bad case of sun stroke and feel really quite ill - even in April. It gets you fit - that's for sure. I was knackered the first week - tired the second week - and fit the third week! This does have a positive effect in other areas - I was surprised how beneficial it is just being reasonably fit. Taking stairs, running for a bus or any sports activities are all just so much easier when you have a basic level of fitness. I don't work as a leafleter anymore but I have kept in that basic level of fitness with cycling, sports and walking. I also feel I am more in tune with the "outside world" and more aware of why things were the way they were - it wasn't that they were odd at all! All thanks to my experiences in leaflet distribution.
