The Flip Side

Lotus Red Teapot by SAMOS

Last week I applied to be a member of the Etsy Mud Team. On Saturday I received notification that I've been accepted! I'm very excited to be a part of such a talented group of individuals! I think it will also help me in getting my schedule nailed down. I've always admired artists that are disciplined in organizing their time. I can honestly say that doing this is not one of my strong points. Trying to figure out WHEN to do everything. Create, market, blog, network...The list is longer, but you catch my drift, right? I'm a list person, so that helps a little. But as your list for the day grows and time passes by, I then find myself in a game of catch up.

Lately I have been a collector of books. I have never loved reading like a lot of people, but I love books. Does that make sense? Anyways, one of the great many attributes a book has is that you can always go back and refer to something you have read to better yourself. For example, I just stated that organizing my time is not one of my specialties. There are many resources out there that help people like me do just that. Books, blogs, videos...It just so happens that one of my books, I'd Rather Be in the Studio by Alyson B. Stanfield, is a great resource for me. If you are like me and need some pointers on how to get started on better organizing your time, here are a few tips:

• Be straight with your task list
• Let technology be your assistant
• Stay focused
• Trick yourself into doing tasks you're avoiding

I would have to say that staying focused is one of the hardest things for me to do, unless I'm in the zone. Once I've reached that point, watch out! Nothing else gets accomplished except art making! And I'm very good at tricking myself into doing tasks I don't want to do. I usually reward myself with something that I've been wanting to do like sit down for an hour and catch up on my blog reading, go for a horseback ride, or plant some new flowers.

Do you have any tricks you'd like to share? I would love to hear about them!