Today I am feeling the pressure of “so many tasks and projects, so little time”. There’s my Assistant Editor tasks– 2nd edit on Quilting Bee, 2nd yardage for the 2011 mystery quilt (did I just write 2011?! Ack!), design the free Christmas pattern, make samples, database the contracts for Dec/Jan, archive Aug/Sept, work on our website, answer reader’s questions, process submissions… the list goes endlessly on, and on, and on.
Then there’s my personal list: finish priority quilt for Ami Simms, who was generous enough to stop by our offices on Wednesday with her wonderful crew and update us on the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI, www.alzquilts.org), work on the borders for my version of Delta Dawn, start the next baby quilt, practice my hand applique, oh wait! re-introduce myself to my husband (“Hello Handsome, remember me?”), play with my dogs, work in the yard, go to gym, make several appointments, call my Grandma… whew!
In spite of everything so crazy, I L-O-V-E my job, I am happy, and I wouldn’t trade my life with anyone. Still, I can’t be the only one running around like the proverbial chicken. How do you manage to get everything you want to do done?
Piece! Joli
Joli,
We had such a wonderful time visiting with everyone on Wednesday. What fun to witness all that creativity in action! There are going to be some fantastic quilts fighting Alzheimer’s from that afternoon of sewing together. Thank you all for the warm welcome we received and the quilts to come!
Joli, you are off to a great start. Like you I start with a list and determine what has to be first. I put the ‘A’ priorities first, usually they are time sensitive. I rank others ‘B’ through ‘D’ and an ‘Other’ list. I then have a working knowledge of what has to be done.
It is also critical not to over schedule a day. This way you have wiggle room to do extras that are important to others and be a bit less harried. There are always things that come up and detours often take time.
Additionally, being organized is a huge time saver. It can make a big difference between loosing the sewing time you have by needing to look for your snips versus actual sewing. It is less expensive to know where your stuff is than buying duplicates and creating more clutter.
I find the most needed part to staying productive is taking advantage of creative urges. These keep the brain going on the next set of projects that will become part of the ‘A’ list eventually.