Today is my two year blogging anniversary!
Thank YOU so much for coming back day after day
and reading what I have to say.
I don’t get a lot of comments or questions on this blog, but one question I get consistently is, quote-unquote:
How do you do it ALL?
Short answer: I don’t.
Of course, everything I show you on this blog is my own work unless I note that it was someone else’s.
But there are a lot of things I DON’T do right now. I don’t work outside the house. I don’t volunteer. I don’t take care of an infant. I don’t cook elaborate meals. I don’t keep a spotless home.
Still, like everyone, I have limited free time. Over the past few years, I’ve become much more efficient and have developed a loose system to make the most of it. And I thought I’d use this occasion to share some of my time-management tips.
- I keep a giant list of everything I plan to do, big or small, today, in the next two weeks, the next year. Some priorities, some not. This clears my brain.
- I have multiple projects going at one time. If you start a project and don’t work on anything else until it’s finished, you’re wasting a lot of time. I work on Project B while the paint on Project A is drying. It’s simple coordination.
At any given time, I have four to six or more projects underway (and more in the early planning stages). I try to have some variety in my current load, keeping in mind what can be done indoors/outdoors, at night/during the day, while my daughter’s playing/sleeping. If I have enough things going, there’s always something available to work on. No matter when the free time appears, I can dive right in.
If I get stuck on something, I think about it while working on something else.
- I don’t wait around for a sizable chunk of uninterrupted time to work on a project. I carve out 5-15 minute intervals where I can to give something a coat of paint or take a few photos.
- I try to have all the supplies in the house before I start on a project. This doesn’t always happen, but I try. There’s nothing that halts a project faster than missing something or running out of paint.
- I stay motivated. This blog is what keeps me motivated. As much as I love creating things, there are times when I don’t feel like doing anything. Of course, everyone has those. But sometimes, I kick myself off the couch and go down in the basement to my work areas. Even if I’m stumped for ideas, I start cleaning things up, putting things away. Sometimes ideas come and sometimes they don’t. If they do, awesome. If they don’t, I have a cleaner space to work in next time.
- I cut out the procrastination. Obviously, this is easier said than done, but really, there’s no point to procrastination. This is going to sound really dorky, but last year my husband and I had a mantra: No Messin’ Around. Of course, we would laugh every time we said it, but it actually worked! We stopped procrastinating in many areas of our lives. If something needed to get done, we took care of it. (We didn’t wait two weeks and then take care of it.) We got motivated and accomplished so much. It worked so well that I decided to re-dedicate the mantra for this year. NMA 2012, baby!
Despite all these efforts, I have to add this blog pretty much wouldn’t exist without the support of my husband. He routinely spends time with our daughter so that I can work, especially when I have a huge project to do (painting, refinishing, etc.). Yay for supportive husbands!
How do you make time for yourself and the things you want to accomplish? I feel like it’s one of those things that requires ongoing fine-tuning and I’m always looking for extra minutes (who isn’t?)!
Congrats! You’re doing so many great things, and the blog just keeps getting better.
Happy Blogiversary!!! I love this blog and it definitely motivates me to tackle more projects. Or at least think about tackling them. Maybe I need more of the NMA mantra around here!
This is awesome! And good motivation for me. I love getting inspiration from your decorating style. Here’s to a few more years! 🙂
Dan, there you go with the supportive husband thing again!
Cori, thanks! I’m telling you, the mantra works. It’s ridiculous, but it works!
Frogi Girl, glad to have provided you with some motivation! Thanks for commenting!