You’re A Time Waster…
Come on, do your best Pat Benatar impression and sing along!
Have you seen Pinterest yet? Ok, well let me tell you, I have found the ulitmate time waster. With Pinterest, you create your own “boards” that you pin things too, like having your own personal bulletin boards on the computer. See an outfit you like at JCrew.com? Go ahead and “Pin It” and it will be on your board for you to go back to. Pinterest will “Pin” the jpg to your board, and leave the link for you to go back to it. The possibilities for this are endless. My boards along show the variety of uses for this. I have a board for clothes for me, clothes for my girls, food and recipes I like, design inspiration, color inspiration, and a list for Disney stuff I like. Now, as I surf the web, I have a place where I can put together all the things I see that I like.
What really makes Pinterest special and work, is that it’s largely a social network as well. You have the ability to “follow” other people, and their boards, so not only can you see what you are pinning, but you can see everyone else’s pin as well! Then, add to the mix the ability to “repin” (very much like a retweet), it almost becomes more fun looking at what other people find than finding things yourself!
So as of right now, I realize that Pinterest is a big time waster in my life. I get that….I am justifying it though by thinking that I am “researching” for future projects….yah, that’s it.
The only drawback to Pinterest right now is that it’s by invitation only. Let’s open up the comments: if you are looking for an invite, let us know here…if you have invites to share, let us know too!
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Do You Know What You’re Doing February 25th?
I do. It’s all part of the big plan around here these days.
Two weeks ago, you and I talked about how planning was going to be a big focus of mine this year. I am happy to say, I’ve hit the ground running, and I think I’ve discovered a secret. I think I’ve found a way to be on top all the time, and better use my time. It’s something that’s been under my nose for ages, but I never really thought it would be possible..but it is, and I am going to share it with you today.
Right now, I’m planning a month ahead. I know, who knew it could have been so easy? I feel like I’ve seen the light though. Back when I was taking some time off during the holidays, I spent a little time getting ahead of myself. I got new things designed, I planned blog posts, I secured new avenues for me to share my thoughts. By the first week of January, I had posted ALL of my January products for my CT to work with. That’s right…all month I’ve know what was coming out. What a change!! In the past, there have been times when I didn’t know what would be coming out that week until right before release. It means I’ve had to sit on a few new products (you will go Gaga for the February 4th release), but it’s been totally worth it. I also outlined most of the blog posts for the month of January. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t write them all, but I at least had a starting point so that when I had a few minutes, I could expand on it until the post was complete. It was easy to do, yet I had never done it before.
The rewards are two-fold. Sure, I’ve had a great month knowing what was going to come out and what was going to happen. I like order, I like having an idea of what’s going to happen. It’s also made it easier to deal with the unexpected things that come our way. I had free time, so I was able to work on Brighter Days Ahead. Had I been worried about coming up with a New Release, I may not have been able to do it. Secondly, with the free time I’ve had in January, I’ve actually used to get stuff ready for February! You may not know what you are doing on February 25th, but I could tell you what is going to be released that day, as well as the blog post that will come the day before (I’m not telling you though!).
So what does this mean for you? Start looking at your life…what things can you prepare in advance? Maybe you want to sit and make a meals menu for the whole month…how great would that be?! Maybe you want to schedule your classes at the gym, or play dates, or weekend plans, or everything for the whole month…that would be pretty amazing. I know some of you are saying, “Well yah, but what about real life? I can’t really plan a month out.” You’re right. You can’t plan for sure. Real life is unpredictable, but if you’ve planned even a little bit, dealing with life’s unpredictabilities is a much easier task. You’ll have less stress, and feel more relaxed knowing at least what should be coming next. I know I did, and I wanted to share that with you.
Do you think that planning out a whole month could work for you? What things can you plan out for the whole month?
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Making Time for it All: Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize
Image by romanlily via Flickr
One of the most common questions I am asked in interviews, chats, and general conversation is how I make time for it all. I’ll be honest – juggling a teaching career, a young family, the demands of digi designing and scrappping, as well as still having some kind of life is not easy. Not at all. Some days, it makes me want to bang my head against the wall. Over the last few months, I’ve learned a lot about how I deal with my time and my responsibilities. One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is that prioritizing is key.
For me, prioritizing works on two levels. First, when faced with a list of tasks that need to be done, I need to sit and prioritize the list and start working on it in that order. This may seem obvious, but I am infamous for looking at my to do list, and instead of picking the most important task, I gravitate to the easier, smaller tasks. Sure, I am getting something done, but at what cost? What ends up suffering is the most important tasks – they get left for the last minute, or the end of the night when I am getting tired. So, if I take a minute and prioritize what is on my list, and work on it in that order, the most important tasks get the “freshest” me, and they get done.
Secondly, I have started really looking at the things going on in my life and prioritizing them. What is the most important to me? What deserves the most attention right now? That list isn’t static, it changes depending on the time and what is going on in my life (well, my family is always first, but everything else changes). Really thinking about what things are most important to me at the time really helps me frame what needs to get done and where to focus my energy and time. Prioritizing the “big picture” helps me to remember what is truly important in my life.
One thing I am looking into starting is making a priority list for my computer time. My school day is pretty scheduled, but when I sit down at night, I often find myself distracted by a million other things (have you SEEN Pintrest?!) before I actually get anything done. I am figuring that if I set a list of things that I have to do when I sit down at the computer each night, before I do ANYTHING else, I will be able to get more done. My wife and I have a similar list for the housework, and we have had success with it. Hopefully I’ll be able to see success creating a similar list for my computer time.
I know I have too much going on in my life…the funny thing is, I like it that way. If I am successful in prioritizing the tasks I have to get done as well as prioritizing the “big picture” of my life, I am able to manage all the things going on in my life.
How about you? Are you prioritizing your life? What strategies do you use to manage your priorities?
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The Secret To Being in More Than One Place at A Time
Yesterday, I talked about how planning was going to help me focus this year and get things done. Luckily, I have really put that into action because I have all kinds of new adventures for Sir Scrapalot in the coming year. I’m going to need to make sure I am planning and working well ahead of time just to keep up!! Check out some of the exciting things I’ll be taking part in this year.
Guest Designer at Log Your Memory – this is already in full swing, and I am so excited to be the January guest designer at LYM. I love what LYM is about, and have had so much fun exploring around. Plus, everyone’s so nice!! You can pick up my kit by participating in the LYM Challenges, and make sure to stop by the Guest Designer Chat this Thursday at 7pm Mountain (9pm Eastern). You never know what will happen!
Featured Designer at Me So Scrappy – I am so excited to be part of this site as it takes off!! Full of fun articles and great resources, Me So Scrappy is a happy place to keep up with the digi world. Be sure to watch for my Featured Designer post coming later in the week.
Teacher at Masterful Scrapbook Design – I am very excited to announce that I am one of the February Teachers at Masterful Scrapbook Design. If you haven’t checked out the site, you really should. For a small fee, each month you get classes that focus on one theme from a variety of teachers. Teachers that include Anna Aspnes, Jenni Bowlin, Debbie Hodge, and me! February’s theme is titles, and there are tons of great stuff planned. I hope you’ll check it out.
Monthly Guest Posts at Simple Scrapper – That’s right, I am going to be a monthly regular at Simple Scrapper now! Look for my posts about time management and keeping my head above water on the third Wednesday of every month.
The Paperclipping Digi Show - I had so much fun recording episodes of the PDS last summer with Steph and Izzy. Remember when I got to “meet” Katie Pertiet? Steph, Izzy and I are working hard to find a time to schedule me in for another episode…darn day job. Soon, though, soon.
Guest Appearance on Glee – ok, ok, that one is a joke…but srsly..I would love to. I don’t even have to sing. Are you listening Ryan Murphy? Email me…I’ve got ideas.
As always, you can find me at Funky Playground Designs, on Facebook, or on Twitter. You can subscribe to the blog to make sure you don’t miss out on anything, and you can sign up for the newsletter for special news and offers.
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New Year’s Resolutions Are A Waste of Time
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The Top Ten Blog Posts of 2010
Looking back at 2010, I wanted to take a minute to share with you my most popular posts from 2010. Feel free to read through them, leave comments, or bookmark them for later! Happy Reading!
- The Secret Behind Extracting – Six Tutorials to Get You Moving
- Scrapbooking with Templates: What if I Don’t Have Any Flowers?
- Secrets to Using Patterned Paper as Backgrounds: Part One
- Back to Basics: What Are the Things You Needed to Know to Start Out?
- Secrets to Using Patterned Paper as Backgrounds: Part Two
- Secrets to Using Patterned Paper as Backgrounds: Part Three
- What Would YOU Like to See Next Year?
- 8 Secrets for Staying Focused and Productive
- 10 Creative Techniques for Titling Your Layouts
- 4 Ways to Use One Photo On A Multiphoto Template
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