Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Managing time

A pictureless entry is boring..Handstitched bib for baby A'ina using fabric from here.

How do you manage your time? Especiallly to those who are self-employed. Now that I work from home (half the time that is, the other half I still need to go out and teach *sigh*), I need to have a better system to optimise what I do at home. I still need to fit cooking meals, cleaning, workout (ehem..), shopping, fetching and chauffeuring my girl around to her after school activities into my schedule on top of working in my sewing studio.
I used tips suggested by FlyLady to help me come up with my time management plan. I've just started using Manic Time to track the ammount of time I spent in front of the computer, so I cant really say if it is helpful.
I find making a daily/weekly schedule really useful, especially if you are a list type of person..I love the feeling of getting to check the things I've managed to complete off my list.. Give me a sense of achievement.

This is how I do it. I first list down everything I have to do for that particular week.
This is my list for this week, Feb 8 - 14:

1. Catalogue new fabric
2. Organise new orders - make a list of stuff to make with fabric
3. Cut fabric for new orders
4. Send bill to _________________ and _______________.
5. Plan and write out blog entry for this week : 
    - time management
    - around the sewing room part I & II
    - fabric focus
    - scrap projects
6. Take picture of finished products - apron, placemats, Sofea's calender quilt
7. Complete: - ABC quilt - make binding and sew
                    - Attach zipper on bags
                    - New hobo bags
8. Plan - laptop sleeve
           - Mother's day gifts
9. Pattern - Apron
10. Start quilting - truck quilt

This gives me a rough idea of what I have to do this whole week. By having a list, it keeps me focussed on stuff needed to be done so that I dont start another project before completing the tasks at hand. I have so far managed to check off numbers 1,2,4, half of 5,6 and half of 7.. and it's only Tuesday evening. At the end of each week, I look back to re-evaluate things that could be improved and things I have achieved that week.  

This system works for me, but it would be great to find out what works for you.. Care to share?? 
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4 comments:

Zura said...

Great post sue! I really need the tips, I'm the classic dreamer, here-there-everywhere kind of person where I plan and plan and plan with really bad follow through...I could hardly keep a planner/diary coz I plan to use it to PLAN my days but by the end of the year I only see empty pages except for the first few days of January! I'm THAT bad lol

MyBotanG said...

Me too, I would plan more than I could handle.. and in the end terbengkalai jek.. at times, I'll start so many new things at once, then tension sorang-2 biler byk sangat pending.. uhuhuh

Idayu said...

tq..berguna sgt kn bnda nih. sy nih ntah apa2 jer buat, last2 tgk dh abis seminggu.he3x

MyBotanG said...

Ayu - Glad you find it useful, if we work fulltime, we have datelines and bosses to answer to, but if kat umah sendiri la kena ingat kan.. Lets try to make our daily lives more productive and efficient :D

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