{Time Management} Lists

A while back, I wrote a post about using your time wisely and effectively. Today I'll share a simple way you can keep yourself on track and feel a sense of accomplishment each and every day.

It seems really simple and easy, but the only thing I use to help me be productive is a list. Well, there is actually more than one list. I usually have at least 3 lists, and that number can go up to about 15.  It might sound neurotic, but it works!

I will just tell you about my main, daily lists. The first is the "to do" list. If there are things I MUST do today that aren't routine, they go on the "to do" list. This includes making doctor's appointments, making phone calls, etc. Things like sewing, homeschool, returning emails, etc. do not go on this list. 

The second list is the "done" list. It's really just a daily log of all the stuff I did. The reason I started keeping this list is that I was having a lot of days where I was busy all day but did not feel that I accomplished a lot. I began writing down everything I did (within reason--feel free to leave off breathing, using the bathroom, showering and such...) and I felt a lot better about the way my time was spent. Here's what my daily log looks like:

The daisy is hiding a client's last name...I don't think she wants her full name on my blog!

It's just a little notebook with a list of stuff I did. Simple, right?

Once you get in the habit of keeping a list, you'll be on track and focused like crazy!

{Time Management} Are You Stealing Your Own Time?

If you had a job working for someone else and you got caught sleeping on the job, they would probably fire you. The reason cited would be theft of time. It sounds harsh, but it's true. You've stolen time from your company. They were paying you to work and you were sleeping!

Rarely will you hear the phrase "I don't have time" come out of my mouth. I have been given 24 hours in each and every day I am alive, and I choose to make the most out of them. There is always time!

The question I ask of myself is if I want to make time for this or that. If I really really want to do something, I will make time.

I get a lot of questions about how I run my business and homeschool. The answer is that I really want to do BOTH things, so I do them. I have never felt constrained by time at all. While my son is doing his seat work, I work. There is NEVER a point in time where I'm not doing SOMETHING. (Right now he's working on math, in case you're curious.)

While I don't get paid with money to homeschool, I do get paid to run my business. If your jobs (homemaker, mother, etc.) don't pay money, try to think about the benefits that you get "paid" from doing whatever it is you're trying to do. How can you use your time more wisely? What are you doing that's "stealing" your own time? (I have some guesses...Pinterest? Facebook, maybe?)

And just for the record, I DO sleep...at least 8 hours a night.

Pricing: What goes into an item?

Oodles of blog posts, written by other people, exhaust the topic of pricing in the handmade industry, so I don’t plan on making this a long post. My goal in this post is to show you what goes into making an apron, my best-selling item.

Step 1: Cut out the fabric. 5 minutes

• An apron is 6 pieces: Two neck straps, two waist ties, a pocket and the apron body.

Step 2: Prepare neck straps & waist ties. 10 minutes

• Fold under one short end of each strap & tie, press
• Then fold each piece in half twice, press both times
• Attach velcro to neck straps
• Sew neck straps & waist ties
• Add tag to one waist tie

Step 3: 5 minutes

• Finish all raw edges of apron and pocket with the serger, adding the straps in their appropriate places.

Step 4: 15 minutes

• Prepare apron & pocket for hemming. This means I stand behind my hot iron, turning up each finished edge to form a straight hem. I also miter the corners that can be mitered. 

Step 5: 10 minutes

• Topstitch along the top edge of the pocket.
• Place & pin the pocket in the appropriate location on apron.
• Sew pocket down.
• Hem apron along all the edges I pressed down.
• Fold nicely and put finished apron in my stockpile.

So the time it takes me to make one apron after a few years of practice is 45 minutes. I wish I knew a way to make it faster, but I don't think it's possible!

Other things that I include in my pricing are:

• Cost of machines & equipment (computer, camera, serger, embroidery machine, sewing machine, printer)
• Materials (fabric, velcro, magnetic snaps, etc.)
• Advertising cost (Etsy fees, business cards, any craft fair fees)
• Taxes (ugh)
• PayPal Fees
• Time for non-production things: Photographing items, answering emails, listing items, planning, ordering fabric, etc.

So if you do the math, you can see that a lot goes in to making an item. I hope this sheds better light on the handmade process and why prices are sometimes higher than you'd expect. We (crafters/artists) are not people who have production lines in China, able to spit out 50 items in one hour that cost $1. We are people who work in our homes, doing what we do because we love it and want to share it with others! Nothing makes us happier than sharing our talents with you!

Labels: Important Business Tool

A few days ago, a lady won one of my items in a door prize basket. I attach my labels to EVERYTHING I make, and she went to my website to see what else I had to offer. She then emailed me to tell me how much she liked it and then inquired about a custom item. She also took it upon herself to share my website with her friends.

Why is attaching labels a MUST DO?
It's like adding a permanent business card to your item! It gives the owner of your item instant access to your information. If a friend asks them where they got the item, the information is right there. No more, "Oh I have their business card somewhere...". Remember that people love, love, love instant gratification and getting your information into their hands immediately is NEVER a bad thing.

Why not just include a business card or two in my packaging?
The short answer is that people throw business cards away or lose them. Include them anyway, though. Business cards are important to have, but they are pretty much trash.

Where can I get labels?
Etsy has many many options for labels, not just for fabric items like mine. You can get custom sticker labels printed also! The labels I use are woven and look just like something you would find inside clothing and purses in stores. They are professional and people always comment on how cool they are!

Now, let's go through the scenario with the nice lady from the first paragraph had I not attached a label. ***crickets chirping*** That's right, there is no scenario then. Maybe she loves it and tries to find out where it came from, but eventually she would have lost interest and just enjoyed her item.

Another scenario: Attaching a business card w/ribbon, no permanent label. Since the purchaser of this item was not the end user, there is no guarantee that the end user knows where their item came from. The purchaser could have removed it before giving the item away. With this scenario, it ends with the end user either not knowing or throwing your card away once they've unwrapped it.

The scenario from paragraph one is ideal. This will not happen with every person. You may not know that it happens either. If I spent $80 on 600 custom labels and I get 2 new customers from that, it's worth it.