When I started doing this segment on Time Management I just thought it was a natural branch off of the Promotions series that I was doing (which I will return too!). As I've read your responses and thought more about it myself I've realized that its the perfect time of the year to be thinking about time management! We're all headed into the Christmas season. A time of year that's busy for anybody, but even more so for on-line sellers! I hope the tips that I'm passing on from other etsy sellers are helping you as your headed into this busy season. Here's another set of tips - from you guys!
New Orleans Tiles said: Read the book Getting Things Done
Originally, I read it for my day job, and it made me extremely more productive (I consider myself to be pretty organized anyway, but this book launched me over the top).
The book literally changed my life. Made me extremely more productive inside and outside of work.
Here's a link
http://www.davidco.com/store/catalog/Getting-Things-Done-Paperback-p-16175.php
The Jump Off said: Well, I work a full time job in the medical records dept of the hospital. I'm a
single mom of 3, and then my two shops on Etsy :D My day is pretty much like this:
~5am - email, blog, promo threads, etc
~6-7am kids up ready for school (big time saver - the kids eat breakfast at school)
~then from 8-4:30 I'm at work
~until 6 post office, grocery store, fabric store
~until 7-7:30 homework while im cooking and eating.
~8 while the kids get baths I'm back online
~9 Kids in bed so I work on orders until 11 then from 11-12 I pkg and address and get everything ready to walk out the door - I put all pkgs and book bags in the car.
NO CLEANING OR LAUNDRY DURING THE WEEK
On weekends I'm up early, walk the dog and I carry a note pad with me for sketches and ideas while my brain is fresh. Come in and clean hard for 2-3 hours. I Try to be sewing by 11 am. (Another time saver - the kids fix their own breakfast, either cereal or oatmeal) On weekends I try to work on new ideas. Usually I stop at 1-2 and we go get lunch and chill for a while then come home and hit it again heavy. I stop at around 7 and cook dinner. Then I sew all night - the kids stay up and just sleep where they fall - LOL! Sunday is spent cutting things out b/c I can do it from the bed - I watch TV all day Sunday during football season and I can put my cutting mat on my bed and cut out while I'm chillin in my Pjs all day!
My big thing is - this is my schedule but if something happens I don't freak out or stress out - just decide I'm off schedule and that's that - no worries! Deal with the issue at hand and get back on tomorrow. :D
The Pumpkinhaus said: I have a fixed schedule that really centers around homeschooling my 5 year old daughter. I have also set up my house so that I am able to be with my children (5 and 1) while I am creating for my shop, packing up orders and answering convos. My mind is constantly making lists, I am very much a list person. A mental list person, once I write it down, it loses something for me.
I also put supplies in "like" piles or bins. So that everything for one project is together. That way, when I go somewhere, I always take my project basket. I never, ever leave the house without something to do. I knit, embroider, cut fabric everywhere. I was this way long before etsy, I have just kicked it up a notch or two in the last year!
New Orleans Tiles said: Read the book Getting Things Done
Originally, I read it for my day job, and it made me extremely more productive (I consider myself to be pretty organized anyway, but this book launched me over the top).
The book literally changed my life. Made me extremely more productive inside and outside of work.
Here's a link
http://www.davidco.com/store/catalog/Getting-Things-Done-Paperback-p-16175.php
The Jump Off said: Well, I work a full time job in the medical records dept of the hospital. I'm a
single mom of 3, and then my two shops on Etsy :D My day is pretty much like this:
~5am - email, blog, promo threads, etc
~6-7am kids up ready for school (big time saver - the kids eat breakfast at school)
~then from 8-4:30 I'm at work
~until 6 post office, grocery store, fabric store
~until 7-7:30 homework while im cooking and eating.
~8 while the kids get baths I'm back online
~9 Kids in bed so I work on orders until 11 then from 11-12 I pkg and address and get everything ready to walk out the door - I put all pkgs and book bags in the car.
NO CLEANING OR LAUNDRY DURING THE WEEK
On weekends I'm up early, walk the dog and I carry a note pad with me for sketches and ideas while my brain is fresh. Come in and clean hard for 2-3 hours. I Try to be sewing by 11 am. (Another time saver - the kids fix their own breakfast, either cereal or oatmeal) On weekends I try to work on new ideas. Usually I stop at 1-2 and we go get lunch and chill for a while then come home and hit it again heavy. I stop at around 7 and cook dinner. Then I sew all night - the kids stay up and just sleep where they fall - LOL! Sunday is spent cutting things out b/c I can do it from the bed - I watch TV all day Sunday during football season and I can put my cutting mat on my bed and cut out while I'm chillin in my Pjs all day!
My big thing is - this is my schedule but if something happens I don't freak out or stress out - just decide I'm off schedule and that's that - no worries! Deal with the issue at hand and get back on tomorrow. :D
The Pumpkinhaus said: I have a fixed schedule that really centers around homeschooling my 5 year old daughter. I have also set up my house so that I am able to be with my children (5 and 1) while I am creating for my shop, packing up orders and answering convos. My mind is constantly making lists, I am very much a list person. A mental list person, once I write it down, it loses something for me.
I also put supplies in "like" piles or bins. So that everything for one project is together. That way, when I go somewhere, I always take my project basket. I never, ever leave the house without something to do. I knit, embroider, cut fabric everywhere. I was this way long before etsy, I have just kicked it up a notch or two in the last year!
