Welcome to week two of the Cre8tion Crochet Business Academy beta course for Starting Your own Profitable Crochet Business.
Last week I had you complete a worksheet that would show you where you spent the vast majority of your time. I did this for a couple reasons. One, I wanted to you see if it was feasible for you to start your business right now; and Two, I wanted to you identify where you could trim the fat so to speak.
Many of you had the same results… lots of wasted time on social media; and you aren’t alone. I also used to waste, what amounted to, half my day scrolling through social media, especially Facebook.
It’s hard for me because I require Facebook for work, so I have to spend some amount of time on there; but I found myself refreshing my page over and over again, looking for something to watch, read or comment on.
When I did the same exercise as I had you do I realized just how much time I wasted during the day, and came to the conclusion that if I used that time responsibly that I could make huge leaps in my business.
You can make the same huge leaps too.
This week’s exercise will teach you how to better manage your time. I found that if I didn’t have my tasks written down for the day, that I felt as though I had more time.
Here is a list of 10 Time Management Skills to help you get it all done
- Keep a larger weekly, or monthly list. Every time you have an idea of something you want to do, or a task that needs to be completed, write it down on your weekly, or monthly list, but don’t use this as your to-do list. Simply use this to make your daily lists. Purge this list every week or month, and start a new one. You may find that some things don’t need to be completed any longer, or you may have changed your mind about something. It will also remind you to work on the tasks that are the most important to you. Tip: I prefer to use an online list for my large/weekly list. In fact I break down my lists even further. I have a monthly list where I just jot down things as I think of. I have a weekly list that I pull from my monthly list of things I want to focus on that week (I usually try to group like tasks together), and then I have my daily to-do list where I put my daily tasks.
- Make your ‘to do’ list the night before. Do not make your lists too long in advance, and do not wait until the morning of to do them. You’ll either put on too much, or too little. Remember you want to actually do what is on your list. If you make it out the night before you’ll be less likely to push off things that you don’t really feel like doing.
- Add in the everyday, mundane tasks. Do you have to check your email daily? Then write it down? Do you have to walk the dog everyday? Then write it down. These tasks take time as well, and you need to take them into account when you make your lists.
- Break down your list into three categories. There are three ways to look at your daily tasks; must do, should do, and want to do. There will be some things that definitely need to get done, then there will be some things that you really should do, but may not have time to, and lastly there are things that you want to do, but first you need to complete the must do’s and the should do’s.
- Don’t put too much on your list. I have a tendency to think I can do things quicker than I actually can, so I used to put way too much on my list. This would inevitably mean that I couldn’t finish my list, which would lead me to feeling guilty and then I’d stop keeping the lists at all. I try not to put more than 3 “must do’s” on my list.
- Write your tasks in actionable steps, and break them down if necessary. For Example, I wouldn’t just write “organize yarn”. That could be a daunting task. I would write: 1) Separate yarn out by color, or brand, or weight, etc. 2) Wind all half used skeins into balls. 3) Put yarn into bins and stack them in my work space. 4) Take yarn I no longer need to the retirement home. Make the tasks small bites that you can handle in one sitting and write out exactly how you will accomplish each task.
- Make sure all the pertinent information is on your to do list. If I had to make an order I wouldn’t just write “make Jane’s hat”. I would write out, “Crochet pom pom hat for Jane Doe. Teal hat with white trim and white pom poms, 20″ around”. I’d also leave Jane’s contact info if I needed to call her to confirm something as I was working.
- Schedule the actual times that you will work on these tasks. Put time that you are allowing yourself to get these tasks done. Make sure you have some wiggle room in your time. Also schedule in things like meals, household chores, even a favorite TV show that you always watch. This will help you make realistic and attainable goals.
- Do your least favorite things first. Write out your list starting with the tasks that you like the least. Once you have them done it will be all downhill from there.
- Move your unfinished items to your list for the next day. Didn’t get something on your list done? No problem, move it to tomorrow. This is why I suggest not making your lists too far in advance because you never know what you might need to add to it, and you don’t want to have to rearrange a week’s worth of lists.
Bonus Tip
Reward yourself for getting things done. Do you really like to play online games, or chat with friends? That’s fine… don’t deprive yourself. Just make sure you get your big work done first. Tell yourself that if you complete your “must do’s” for the day, that you will allow yourself 30 mins to scroll through Facebook for fun, or look at all the pretty patterns on Ravelry, etc. Set a timer and stick to it. You can always reward yourself with more time after you get your “should do’s” done too.
Now that I’ve given you the hows… here is the the DO. Use this worksheet to make your to-do lists for this week… and MAKE IT HAPPEN!