Tag: planning

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Crochet Planning Worksheets

The past several weeks have passed in a blur of activity. I really feel this Lord of the Rings meme is accurate because I want to say…

LOTR meme

This is really how I usually feel around this time of year. Christmas is looming, and those of us who have small retail businesses are run right off our feet.

Thanksgiving means family gatherings and creating good food–tons of good food. The past four years have seen an influx of people to my home as my brother and his family come down to visit, and my college-age daughter’s friends come to stay for the weekend (they are too far away to go home for the weekend). Toss in Black Friday, managing an Etsy shop with after-Thanksgiving sales, cold weather, house cleaning, and cooking for everyone and life just gets really busy and really interesting.

Who am I kidding? It’s not just me — we are all run off our feet with time commitments: school, church, family, friends, decorating, grocery shopping, gift buying. I have to work hard at staying organized; I have forgotten about people during Christmas: family, small children in my home, {gasp!} my dear daughter. It was awful! I stayed up until after 3 AM sewing and beading a small denim dress for her “Santa gift” and scrounging through my stash of cool mini-gifts that I kept at the time. I decided then-and-there that I will never again forget anyone — and then I did it again. Twice. So now I work really hard to make lists, and I make sure my family sends me emails with their gift lists.

This year is no different. I am procrastinating instead of getting the housework  (or anything) done. Instead, I’m thinking of post-Thanksgiving when I will get to sit around and crochet. I’m also thinking about how some of you may be just like me. So, I created a couple of organizers to help you keep your crochet organized. These worksheets are my Christmas gift to you. They are yours free when you join my email list. If you are already a member don’t worry about it, they are coming to you in the next newsletter!

Crochet Planning Worksheets for you

The first one helps you figure out if you have enough yarn in your stash for your next project. The second one helps you create a shopping list for what you still need to buy after shopping your stash.

I finally put down on paper what I do when I plan an afghan using my stash yarn! I wish I had started doing this years ago. This worksheet will be an incredible help as you plan out your future projects.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Waiting on Ideas to Hatch

Everyday is a new day!  It has been a long week so far and it is only Sunday! Last week we took 2 kids to college and dropped them off. We then drove the quiet 5 hour drive home. It was quiet and it IS quiet now. We also took the leaf out of the table and it now sits four quite comfortably or five if you really like each other!  We raise kids to be independent and then we are sad when they finally are! So this week, I am concentrating on the one chick left in the nest. I am thinking of things like Christmas gifts, the Etsy shop, things I am thankful for and what I want to do with this blog!

Waiting on ideas to hatch
Hatching Ideas

 

 

Like these eggs, I am waiting on the right time for my ideas to hatch. There are so many things that I would love to do but I just don’t have the time. I am getting to take a painting class this year with my daughter. I will show you my work as I go. It has been ages since I have really painted and I am completely self taught.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Overwhelmed?

I have been feeling overwhelmed lately. There just seems to be too much on my plate and not enough time. I remembered this email that my husband had forwarded to me and decided to take a look. It is from Michael Hyatt. He has experience and common sense. This year I decided that I needed to streamline my business and then I plunged into the 100 items in 100 days Challenge. I have been blogging and stressing about things to do ever since.

Here is Michael’s article: http://michaelhyatt.com/086-what-to-do-when-you-feel-overwhelmed-podcast.html

1. Decide that you need to make a change!

I do need to change some things. My schedule needs to be flexible and work with the ebb and flow of this retail business and my family life. I tend to get into ruts and many times say “No” when it should be “yes”. I have some natural built in things that keep me honest about energy and time usage. I need to say “Yes” to change!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/130328074/say-yes-printable-poster-digital-art

2. Eliminate

What can I cut out of my business or home life? What can I do to change up what I am doing? I am working on some new spins on old items in my shop and some new things altogether. Can I organize things within our family that will allow me to be better organized overall?

3. Automate

I need to automate some parts of my business so that I don’t have to make decisions about little time consuming details. I need to blog and create weeks or months in advance and then decide when I am going to release different  articles.

4. Delegate

I need to plan meals, cleaning and other activities that take me out of the house and away from studio productivity. My family helps all the time so delegating more to them is not possible.

5. Three high payoff activities

These three things save me the most time or pay me the most money for my time ; creating new items, writing crochet patterns, blogs and tutorials, planning everything from grocery lists and menus, to vacation days and business ideas.

6. Productivity Sinkholes

I know that these eat my productivity; leaving the house and studio disorganized, spending too much time on the internet or watching tv, not following through on a task, starting more than I can finish in one sitting when sewing, being afraid of success or failure.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/60981651/time-wasting-experiment-0029-52-minutes

 

7. Schedule important tasks

I need to plan when to sit down and sew for extended periods of time. Schedule it in on my calendar. I have already scheduled basic household maintenance things like changing the heat pump filters. It is helping me to remember to do the small things that save money.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/160798758/weekly-planner-to-do-list-weekly

8. Hire a virtual assistant….

I’m not really ready for a paid virtual assistant but I can work on using all the tools available on the computer and phone to help me keep track of expenses and mileage.

I hope all this thinking helps out. I have the beginnings of a plan and now I need to implement it one step at a time.

Talk to you later,

Karen