How do you get so much done?

I get that question a lot. I even recently was lured back to a job with "we want you back because you just get sh*t done!" her words, not mine, but I have heard it before. And more and more I am realizing that I have to be aware that I can get a lot done but I do have a limit and I need to know where that limit is and back off when I get close to it. For example I was offered another part time job (that would be 3 part time jobs for anyone who is counting and no that does not count mother/housewife as one of them) and I had to turn it down. It would have just been too much. I was a little sad but relieved and proud of myself for saying no.

Here are some tips for getting more done.

Well ok first a disclaimer. I do not do all these things all of the time. When I do life is easy and fun. When I let some things go it all falls apart. And there is always one aspect of my life not getting enough of my attention. Maybe because I am out of time but maybe beacuse I am avoiding it but ALWAYS.

Another disclaimer, I only have 1 child and she is pretty easy. She typically puts herself to be by 7pm.  I say typically because the past 2 nights have been a battle ending in her sleeping on the floor in the hallway. 

1. Plan ahead.
I am a crazy list maker. I plan meals, our family schedule, projects I am sewing. I have lists for them all, and when I do not ...well lets just say you could end up with peanut butter on a hot dog bun and some pickles in your lunch.

This current list, in blue are the things I want to get done today. The rest are longer term goals that have not yet made it to the today list.

I also have a little pad of paper with all the days of the week where I plan our meals.

By Monday morning I try to have a schedule up with all our meals and what everyone is doing all week. And yes there are only 3 of us, but being organized is always helpful.

These are my September sewing goals. Some are done, some are in progress. I have actually managed to do some projects that did not make the list (the stuff for my mom). And I am sure that some things will get bumped to next month. It is what it is. But I do have a looming deadline. My stuff will be back at HomeGrown 10.1.12!

2. Ask for help / delegate
I am getting better at this. For example today is Team Weeks clean up day! Everyone in the family gets jobs and we have to get them done before we get to go out and have fun.

Another one is when you are at Publix and they offer to help you out to the car, let them help! Especially if you are alone with your kid(s). It is safer for you to focus on the kid and let them get your groceries in the car. Plus they offered! Take any offer for help you can get, it can be a step to actually starting to ask for help.



3. Take a break!
Sitting on the back deck sipping wine with my gal pals Friday night saved my sanity last week. Dates with the hubby are nice too. And I drink lots of coffee. I usually write during my coffee break, but at least it is a break from whatever else I was doing. 

4. Sometimes good enough is just that, good enough.
I am not Martha Stewart.  She created unrealistic expectations. I do not have a staff and unlimited financial resources. I am already out of grocery money this month and have to be creative with what is in the pantry. (see 1. Plan Ahead and laugh at me for this)

5. Only say yes to things you actually want to do as often as possible.
Last week M's Kindergarten teacher asked me if I could make a banner for the classroom, since I am so artistic and all. I should have said no, except it sounded fun! And like something I could do.  Here is how it is looking so far.

It says "Let's take a walk!" it is for their exploring communities unit. They will be doing walking tours of our town. Fun, right?

6. Be regimented about many things and flexible about several things.
Maybe the reason M is so easy to get to bed (normally) is b/c my husband has been a serious stickler for bedtime her whole life. Notice I say he is a stickler for bedtime. M and I have just followed his lead and I have to admit the fact that we all get enough sleep is part of what makes our lives run more smoothly.

As for being flexible an example is that one of M's friends wants us to come play at the park, so we may get as much work done as we can and then head to the park ;) Some things are more important than having a perfectly clean house.

7. Just do it!
Sometimes just forcing yourself up off the couch, or away from the computer, is all you need to create forward momentum. Just get up and get started you may be surprised how much you can get done in even a small amount of time. But you have to focus. Do one thing at a time until it is done. Especially when your kids, husband, whoever are not there. Since once they do show up you will get interrupted.

I hope this helps you get a little more done today or tomorrow and going forward.

Peace Out.
C

New Product Proto-types and testing the snap press

You may have seen the un-paper towel floating around on Pinterest and such. I have been seeing them and decided it would be a great project for testing out my new snap press.

First I had to determine what materials to use. I recently acquired some florescent terry cloth so I used it and some cotton as the main fabrics. When testing the snap press I discovered that the material needs to be a certain thickness or it will not work. I added another layer of fabric to the un-paper towels so that the snaps would adhere better.

I tested fleece, flannel and t-shirt as the inner fabrics for the towels. For ease of cutting and sewing the fleece worked best. The cotton and the terry stuck to it making it so that you did not need  to pin the three together, which was nice for serging the edges.

Once I serged the three fabrics together I put on the snaps with my new snap press.

I only broke two snap pieces and completely messed up only one towel. I think for the first time trying a new project and a new piece of equipment that is not so bad. Once all the snappy snaps were on I sewed in the thread tails and trimmed the towels all up before snapping them together. I rolled them onto our paper towel holder and they are ready for testing. I want to see how well they work before I commit to making them for other people.

Aside from the messiness of my counter, what do you think? I know you would want them in a calmer fabric. But are these something you would consider buying? Would you be willing to switch from paper towels to all cloth all the time? I will have let you know how this experiment goes.

Peace Out - C

Fall break was way too long!

Down here in the dirty south school started on August 1. Yes it is crazy pants and weird and all that jazz. But it is what it is and this past week was already "Fall Break". All I can say is I need to save up so that next year we can go somewhere because it was way too long. My mother came to visit so I had her and the kiddo to entertain all week. Probably needless to say but; not a whole lot of sewing or anything productive went on all week.

I only finished one sewing project and it was a project for my mom. In July she asked me if I would make her a set of 8 napkins and 8 place-mats.  She lives at the beach so she wanted something beachy. I never get to make anything beachy so it was fun to pick out these fabrics.  I settled on crabs, lobsters and sunglasses. I got some extra of the sunglasses fabric so I can make myself a skirt next summer.

Napkins I make all the time so easy peasy there. But I have never before made any place-mats. Just rectangles, right? I got out a place-mat that I had and used it as a template.  Then I cut out rectangles for the front and the back so that they would be reversible. I used sew-in interfacing so that they would be a little more sturdy and keep their shape.  

I added my cute little tags to the place-mats so she would remember that I made them for her.

 

 

She liked them and said she was excited to get home and use them. I hope that she enjoys them for a long time to come.

School starts back tomorrow and I am very excited! Now there is a chance that I will get some stinking work done!

Peace Out - C 

Ode to my hammock!

Alright so I just like to use the word ode. One day several years ago I said "I wish we had a hammock". And for some strange reason my husband actually heard that request and got me a pop up hammock and frame for our deck.

When I was pregnant with my daughter I sat in the hammock until I could no longer get in and out of it. And in the years after she was born we laid in it together. Then it started to fall a part and I could sit in it no more. Also it was so stretched that my butt was hitting the ground. One of the things on my long list of September projects was to make a new hammock.

Today I did just that.

 The only weird thing it that, the middle is higher than the sides. I do remember when I first got the old hammock I felt like I was sitting in a giant V and it eventually stretched. I am hoping that this fabric relaxes a little too. It is a little stiff and awkward now. But in a couple of months it should be perfect.
However when this one wears out I will probably just buy another one. Would have cost about the same as all the supplies it took to make this one.

I made the cute little pillow too. Which is nice. I got a lot done yesterday and today. It has been fun to have my room back and do some fun personal projects before I have to get back to the one woman sweat shop. Did I mention I am scheduled to be back selling my wares at Homegrown on October 1? I guess I need to make some stuff for that.

Peace Out - C