I currently have several jobs, including my Accounting Business, my “side-hustle” (Frances Quilts), Quilt Guild webmaster, Nana, and, of course, Wife!
And, like many of us, I struggle to accomplish everything that I want to do.
Back in November, I read the book “Getting Things Done” by David Allen…..
This is a very intense book, and I initially found myself getting overwhelmed with it, but finally learned to listen to his ideas and then adapt them to ME.
One of his big ideas is to have a way to CAPTURE everything that you need to do.
Now, he REALLY gets into the idea of capturing all of your tasks in one place, including having a set of 31 folders….one for each day of the month.
Okay…. I didn’t take it that far!!
But, I did like the idea of writing things down in a place where I would see them, remember them, and not have them just floating in my brain!
Let’s be honest, the only things that I REALLY want to be floating in my brain are quilt ideas!!
As an example, I am the webmaster for my quilt guild. That means that each month, I must complete a series of tasks, including updating membership lists in 3 places, updating web pages for past and future events, posting meeting photos on Facebook, and even sending out email reminders.
THAT is a lot to remember EVERY SINGLE MONTH!!
So, I set up a form that listed all of the tasks, printed it 12 times, and placed one in each of my monthly folders (yes I DID make monthly folders). Now, I know that those tasks are “captured” and I don’t have to worry about them anymore.
I also set up folders for my studio…..projects that are in process, projects that I WANT to be in process, projects that are on my “someday/maybe” list and even projects that I can work on without having to think about them (ie…scrap quilts)!!
This capture process seems to be working well so far!!
The other idea that I got from the book was this…..
Make a To-Do list for each day, but don’t include things that you have NO plan to actually do!!
I am so guilty of this. I will load up my daily To-Do list with tons of items, knowing full well that there is NO way I can accomplish all of it. The result is that, at the end of the day, I have a few things crossed off but feel guilty about everything that DIDN’T get done.
I have found this idea so helpful and it has encouraged me to FINISH the tasks that I have assigned to that day….even if I don’t want to do them!!
OKAY…I know that this has nothing to do with quilting….or does it?
Could you apply some of these principles to your creative life?
Please let me know what you think of!!
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If you have an interest in ruler quilting, check out this online course…..
Do you remember as a kid, everyone asking “What did you get for Christmas”?
As always, my family pulled out all the stops when buying me creative Christmas presents.Here are some things that I am looking forward to trying out in the next year!
My Daughter-In-Law is an artist and I asked her for a book and brushes to help me with my watercolor practice…..
The book looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try it out!
I got two exciting books……
At this point, I am not sure I will do much more Sashiko, but when I looked through the book, I kept seeing free-motion quilting designs, particularly some grid designs. So, now I am excited about finding other ways to use these designs!!
Santa brought (ie….I bought for myself) a seam roller and stiletto……
As I said in my last video, I lost my favorite stiletto, so I am looking forward to having this one. I have never used a seam roller and am anxious to see how it works.
Finally, I received “The Color Cube” by Sarah Renae Clark.
These boxes contain 500 cards….each with a photo and colors inspired by the photo….
The back of each card contains the Hex-code for the colors and lighter and darker hues as well…
I can’t wait to use these cards to think about and plan future color palettes!!
Isn’t this a great bag of loot to start my new year out with?
