How to organize your have/need/want to-do list
Guess what?!
It’s almost winter time and you know what that means?!
Yes, almost time for hot lattes and scarves and sweaters (my favorites!).
But what else?
Well, for me, life gets crazy busy in the winter time and I love it. Staying busy makes me feel productive and accomplished and all kinds of warm on the inside (do not worry I will be sure to get plenty of rest as well, I have mastered the art of stopping).
I tend to set high expectations for myself. I will be working the seasonal job for the second year in a row, as well as keeping up with my new goal of monthly restocks (yay for my own kiln!) and all of the custom orders I usually accumulate for Christmas gifts. Along with clay, I’ll be making up some wood crafts to sell at the store of my seasonal job. So yeah, life is gonna be busy.
But how do I prepare myself for the busy stuff?
I MAKE LISTS.
I am seriously a list lover.
So first, I sat down with my hot tea and my notebook and calendar and mentally prepared myself. My weekends will consist of the seasonal job which means during the week, I really need to stay focused.
Start with the schedule.
Monday through Friday is devoted to the Nanny Fam while Saturday and Sunday is strictly seasonal job. Mornings will be devoted to myself as my own time with maybe 20 minutes each morning to put finishing touches on clay or get some housework done.
I have also decided that one night each week will be designated for a coffee date and maybe a night full of cooking and relaxing - no work allowed. I’ll keep the “free night” flexible so that I can schedule for a night that I really just need a reset.
2. Move on to the little things.
By little things, I mean tasks such as inventory counts and invoice sending. Business is my priority over decluttering/decorating the apartment (though organization is necessary, we are in a good spot spot so no need to worry about those distractions right now).
On my sheet of paper, I have 4 columns written out headlined as:
Clay Orders
Clay to Throw
Clay to Slab Build
Wood Art
My orders are always top on my list and I try to get those made and ready to fire first because I need all of my energy for those special orders.
Throwing clay consists of mugs, cups, bowls, planters, basically anything on the wheel.
Clay to slab build has my garden stakes, earrings, mini/midi dishes and pieces that don’t get me too dirty with clay sludge like the wheel. These pieces I can roll out and form by hand without the spin.
Wood art is just full of the wood crafts that are quick and simple and very easy to finish in bulk like an assembly line.
So throughout this list, I write the specifics down and then give myself a “desired inventory number” of how many of each that I would like to make, always giving myself plenty of room in case I fall short by a few pieces. And usually for the fun of it, I’ll plug those numbers into my spreadsheets with the values of each attached just to see “if I sell out of everything, I’ll bring in X amount of income” for fun and the extra little motivation too.
Basically the “small things” are the need to do tasks.
*it is also important to note that these lists must be orderly and easy to read. Sometimes I’ll write on different sheets of paper in order to really stay organized. When I have time, I type them all out and print them and cut them down to the checklist size, pinning them to my big wall calendar.
3. The big “want to do list” is next
You know when you’re walking around your house and your mind starts saying “I should really fix that” or “maybe I’ll clean out that cabinet later” but then the day flies by and you don’t get to it? Guilty x100!
So I sat down and made a list of about 20 tasks I wanted to accomplish that are my big things (though one is just to put the new ink cartridge in the printer) but these will make me feel great as I check them off and it contributes to the household chores so it’s a win-win. It is also a change up from my usual daily tasks so that if I’m feeling burn-out (it is real and it does happen quite often sometimes), I have a ready-made list of some mindless accomplishments set for me.
4. Prioritize and schedule the tasks
Now that I have everything written down, I can go through my weekly planner and delegate which items to make on which days, taking into account the time it takes to make the pieces as well as dry time and trim time and quantity. As long as I can stay on schedule with the daily expectations, I know that the chance of me pushing everything back to spend my entire Sunday on work is very slim- but as always, there is plenty of wiggle room.
5. Rest
As I check things off my list, I feel better and better about my productivity and then I pick a night to sit and soak it all in - without having any piece still in progress. For instance, when it’s time to rest, I make sure that I have already handled all my mugs or trimmed all the bowls and that there is nothing left on my list to do later. Before I made this a rule, I would continue to put off the last little thing because I wasn’t able to clear my mind and that self-sabotage is something I am not a fan of at all.
Slowly my list dwindles down and then I can start a new list with new goals and expectations. Each time, I grow more disciplined and more excited for the next rest day because I have learned how to hype myself up for it and I imagine all of the fun things I get to do on that rest day and it’s just so exciting.
It’s a continuous cycle, but routine is great and I love it.
If you would a deeper look into how I design my task lists, reach out to me or leave a comment below!