Take a page from one of our favorite books.
In the thick of workshops, making stuff, coordinating agreements and dreaming up of new projects (which is what we’re usually up to–please insert your own activities here), we sometimes get lost and sometimes unhappy when stuck in the space of building our craft businesses while wistfully (and longingly) looking at our craft tables with their unfinished projects and sketchbooks of project diagrams.
A couple of insights that really resonate (at least for well, me) from the book at this point in time, are the pieces of advice when it comes to time management. Crafters are makers, and I find makers belong to an empowered culture–empowered in the sense that makers are intimately familiar with the process of making–the essential steps of conceptualizing, prototyping and producing items, that in a way a lot of them (okay, a lot of us) feel like we can pretty much do anything (given the time, knowhow and resources). And a whole lot of us have wonderful can-do attitudes (as a by-product of this maker culture). Sometimes though, in our innate Darna-ness, we get a bit overwhelmed (with the deadlines we’ve committed to, with the growing list of projects from Pinterest we’ve stalked). And that’s when a more grounded (and wholistic) view of ourselves, our interests and our business has to be considered.
In Kari Chapin’s book (you can read an earlier review-like thing here), there’s a visualization process of your dream business. And part of that is figuring out how much time in the day you’d like to allot to it. It’s easy to say–I’d only like to work four hours in a day, but then later on wonder why you still feel stressed or overwhelmed.
Our dream businesses (and the time we allot to them), are just part of a lot of other activities that comprise our day. Sometimes we fail to consider to allot time for solitude and rest, relationships and family, other projects and business-related activities. Just because these activities aren’t considered business, doesn’t mean they don’t account for time. And given all the other activities you have in a day (from playtime with the kids to that nice relaxing spa date with yourself), do you think you realistically have four hours to delegate to your dream business?
It’s something to think about when you plan your schedules and businesses.
We’ll be sharing some programs and apps that help us out in terms of productivity in the next few posts. Before we hit Hump Day, we’re wishing everyone a productive and fulfilling week.
Oh boy, our Maker Holiday is coming up this weekend! Excitement. 🙂