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January 29, 2021
I'm still in awe of how efficient scheduling my calendar has been. This is a new tool I've been using in my time-management efforts to keep on track and to keep things going.
Here's the layout:
- I get side-tracked easily, what artist doesn't? I mean that's sort of the nature of what we do isn't it? We plug around looking for new ideas and that requires going down a bunch of time black-holes... right?
- So we don't always remember as much as we would like, even we were younger, we seem to forget where we were the last time we were in our studio - you know the "Where are my scissors" syndrome! Again, this is part of the creative spirit.
- Suddenly, here we how much time is it going to take? How to get to the planning and deciding part, and then the sewing part faster. (Note: I've been known for making a piece of fabric up 20 or more times before I actually cut it!!!)
- And then there's the always-happening when we have a lot of time and we're in the mood to sew and create something really fabulous and BOOM, just like that all our ideas disappear as if they had just all gotten the same "get lost" memo!
I find this last one really discouraging, cause even though we have all that time and humor going our way, it doesn't necessarily mean that anything gets accomplished.
That's where time-management comes in. And let me be perfectly honest, I don't like the word time-management. It sounds like a term that some numbers-crunching, hard-nosed, picky person invented to scare everyone in to a 24/7 work mode. I would much prefer something like pace-enhancer or calendar-helper or daily nail-it...that one really appeals, but may be too colloquial, maybe organizing project ideas....ooooo, I really like that last
one. It feels all friendly and usable. And the total opposite of some persnickety, fussy person with pursed lips saying "time-management". But time-management is the expression most are familiar with.
We sewists are gentle and delicate creatures, and having something like a 24/7 demon running amok in our head does not do anything for our productivity output, much less for our creativity. And this is exactly what research bears out. Not only does this work-through-everything-24-7 attitude not work for we sewists, neither does it work for most of the poor working slobs out there either.
Having an ad-infinitum list of things added to your to-do list, kills creativity faster than a vacation notice from the muses (you know, they've disappeared to go sip cocktails on another continent's beach - without your permission!!!)
So how do we waddle through all those problems, and particularly considering that shrinks and time-management gurus are discovering that someone standing over you 24/7 (and that includes that demon running amok in your head) is not only not productive, but it's anti-productive.
And this is where the calendar fits in.
The calendar does a number of things that the to-do list can't, and that is work your way through the many things we would like to do in a step-by-step process. Having a step-by-step process is far easier for the mind to grasp and integrate.
We are so hell-bent on getting things done in "one afternoon" or
"while you're driving carpool," that we forget the implausibility of that, no matter how dramatic or convincing the argument can be. So when YouTube videos abound talking about how to make a tailored shirt in a couple of hours, it's no wonder that people get discouraged sewing and then walk away thinking they can't do it.
Having a realistic view of time-management while sewing is key, and that realistic view is facilitated with these organizing project ideas philosophy and techniques. The major technique is replacing your to-do list with your calendar.
I happen to be in love with Google calendar, (but Outlook does the same thing). Since I'm all set up with Google, I get a gentle reminder (I put a nice soft chime notification sound on my smartphone), and that sound tells me that it's time to relax, take a break, cut this out, think about this project, go fix lunch, go get groceries, go to bed and anything else I need help scheduling.
Here's the thing: the creative person has a problem with time. The reason is that being creative is so addictive and fulfilling, that you can sit there working away on your project in creative never-never land and suddenly look up and it's 5 hours later or 10 hours later. Yeah, it's a high and a rush, but really that's not good for you.
The human body needs a break every now and then. The break not only provides your body time to stretch and flex, but it also provides a time to think, "Wow look how far I've come," or "Wow, I didn't think I would make it this far," or "Wow what can I schedule for next month," or "I need to make a note (which you can do on your calendar) to look through that site I saw a couple of days ago for neck line ideas," or any of a bunch
of other thoughts, that you never would have had working straight through without a break.
Those breaks, like everything else can be put into your calendar and that way you don't have to keep clogging up your mind to remember them and then wondering what happened to your time. And time is your most precious resource - and when it's gone, it's gone. It slips through our fingers so easily that anything that can save that slippage is a wonderful tool that we should use.
Here are some very wise words from The Unmistakable Creative who has conducted over 600 interviews with thought leaders and people from all walks of life. (He's also got some killer cartoons that I'm featuring below.)
Imagine if you have a calendar. And imagine that you say that [sic there] are some things that get represented on this calendar and some things that don’t. On a regular calendar, things that get represented are meetings with other people. The things that don’t get represented are things that will take 30 or 100 hours. Exercising or meditation. The things that don’t get represented are calling your mother. So what happens is that the moment you
have a way to represent things easily like meetings and you don’t have a good way to represent something like writing a book or meditating or exercising and so on, the things that are represented will be carried out and the things that are not represented will not get carried out. And as a consequence, your life will be filled with things that might not fit with your agenda. So the real question is how do we get the representation of our lives to fit our real
objectives?
I love the way he puts this: not scheduling in the things you want to do, the creative and mundane tasks, your life ends up being not what you would like or further what you really want to be doing.
Here's another fabulous article about planning your day at the end of the day. Also a more in depth article that I took the above quote from. The writer of the two above articles has Attention Deficite Disorder and can't pay attention for a long time, so here's his answer on how he gets through his day. Even if you don't suffer from ADD, it's an insightful and inspirational read.
Here are some fun cartoons to illustrate this (I love pictures anyway and cartoons are even more fun!)
Doesn't this just scream fun to you?
It does to me. And it's not that hard. Time-management or Organizing Project Ideas is simply a habit. I'll be honest, I don't use it all the time. But I do love using it when my schedule gets back-up or heavy. When I need to get tasks accomplished on schedule, a calendar is the best way to make it happen.
We are all handling a lot of balls in the air, and to expect to remember where all those balls are, is virtually impossible, even for those of us who have photographic memory. The calendar is the answer for this - not pushing us (and don't go there with this calendar) but only as a gentle reminder....
- time to rest
- time to start dinner
- time to watch a movie
- time to go out to dinner
- Zoom with Claire
- Work on pattern adjustments for pants/top/skirt or whatever
- Cut out coat pattern
Scheduling all these kinds of tasks, can not only be possible but probable and very realistic.
Seeing how your time can lay out in a calendar, can put your mind at ease, it's very empowering and can stop that panic that can overtake your demons and start working on a problem that's not really there.
At the end of the day, I look at all that, it's been accomplished, and I haven't once felt like I needed to rake myself over the coals to go to the next item on my to-do list. I also manage my next day while everything is still fresh in my mind at the end of the day. This makes it so much easier to step into my studio when I can literally take a look at my calendar and think, yeah, I can do this!
I designed the Time Management Resource below to be for novice beginners or seasoned practicers. The whole idea is to make this as easy and understandable as possible.
Don't know how to make blocks of time for your project? No worries, I have designed an interactive pdf that will take you through all the possible blocks of time which will allow you to work those blocks in when you want.
As much as knowing how is knowing why. Why do we get drawn off focus? Why is it important to schedule with a calendar? Why is scheduling our time important anyway? And finally downloads to help you work through how to schedule and create steps for your project to make it much easier to see parts and how they relate to the whole. The whole resource is for you to have forever, so these resources can be yours to print out forever!
I love the way he puts this: not scheduling in the things you want to do, the creative and mundane tasks, your life ends up being not what you would like or further what you really want to be doing.
Here's another fabulous article about planning your day at the end of the day. Also a more in depth article that I took the above quote from. The writer of the two above articles has Attention Deficite Disorder and can't pay attention for a long time, so here's his answer on how he gets through his day. Even if you don't suffer from ADD, it's an insightful and inspirational read.
Here are some fun cartoons to illustrate this (I love pictures anyway and cartoons are even more fun!)
Here are the three resources separately so you can choose which one you want to use.
Who doesn't need this for the new year all full of ideas how! Index includes: The Creative Process, Typical Blocks (The Whys and Hows), The Artistic Process in the Real World, General Fears (And How to Deal With Them) and About Inspiration. These are all meant to help you understand the creative process but how to make this process work for you.
Recent research on time management practices have shown that working 24/7 is not the most efficient way to use our time. But how do we get things done, particularly when we're on a schedule or a big project. This contains downloads, recent advances in time-management practices, and proven techniques to get your project done without a lot of stress about the time it will take!
 Studio arrangement sounds like a bunch of hooey, but don't kid yourself. The tools that interior decorators and ancient practices use are there for a reason - they work! Here's a concise directory on how to arrange your work space so that it's efficient and conducive to
creating and a productive environment! In here I include a lot of guides on how to set priorities in your arrangement, what to do with those priorities and how to make best use of the space you have.
And here's the original package:
Inspiration, Studio Design and Time Management. They all three key in really well with each other, and they are on a 21% discount for the first of 2021!
Click here for more information!
Enjoy!
On the Blog
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