An Attempt At Organization

I thought I would share my attempt at getting and staying organized.

I am not a very organized person in general. I tend to be the person that knows what I want and what I need to do but with so much to do it all just kind jumbles around in my head. I constantly feel like I'm going a mile a minute and sometimes I get freaked out when I think of all the things I'm probably forgetting about throughout the day.

But with 3 shops and the busy season approaching I took this weekend to try and get organized!

My original monthly goals jotted down on random paper.

I'm a list maker, I love lists!! I don't always finish things on my list but I its less stressful to see it all written out. Each month I make a list of goals and each day I make a list of what I need to get done that day for the stores. But I tend to write these lists on whatever paper I have around and I didn't really have a central place for business related things. I have a little notebook where I doodle and jot down things for my business but its not really anything structured.

 So I decided to make a business binder. I am using it to house any important business information. Some of this stuff is also on my computer but I am really still a "paper" person and I like having having a tangible resource.

I just used a green binder I already had and printed the cover for it.

The central part of the binder was my production calendar. With 3 shops each sealing somewhat different items, I wanted to make sure I knew what new items I was rolling out and when. This helps with my to-do lists each day, prioritizing the random ideas for new items that pop in my head all the time and also helps me figure out how much time I can carve out for the fully custom items and when I need to take a break from those.

July 2013

At the beginning of the year I purchased this set of editable printable home organization items for Happy Organized Life. I use them for personal budgeting and meal planning. They are super useful and since I already had them I use the monthly calendar for my production calendar.

They do come in cute colors but I tend to print any non-product related items in b/w to save ink. I also choose to hand write my stuff, just works better for me. She does offer a full set of business organization sheets as well!! I tweaked it a bit (as in I just crossed out the labels for the side columns and wrote over them...one of these days when I have time I'll make it fancy...but really I'm a no frills kinda girl!). On the right side I list what items I want to add that month, what items I am working on to release the next month and then a few items that if I have time throughout the month that I can work on. Then I just fill in the calendar. I write down the date of the release and then I just jot down the days I plan to actually create the items and if they need prep before listing.

 I am a visual person so its nice to see it all together. I plan a few months ahead at least to plan out what I want to roll out that month and when it gets closer then I actually will pick the specific dates and start the work. Next for each day I have a place to write down tasks for the day. Next to the task I also list the project they are related to and the due dates, just keeps me focused. I don't list a lot of tasks simply because I also have orders to work on each day that vary regarding the amount of time so if I get done with everything and still have time I can look at the production calendar to figure out what I can work on. I try not to over book myself.

Tasks for last week

Goal Sheet

Another big part of the binder is my monthly goal sheet. Really its just a bunch of bulleted lines. Before I would just write a list of what I wanted to accomplish that month. But recently I have really tried hard to connect my goals with what I ultimately want for my shops. So now with each goal I also leave room to write down action plans to achieve the goal (for example: I have a goal of increasing sales, so action would be to advertise on blank website etc). I like to also write or at least think about how this goal is going to impact my business. I want to always be thinking about providing the best service and  growing and making sure that is where I am putting my energy.

The rest of the binder is just financial stuff (I print my orders each month just so I can refer back and I print out an overview of profits/losses each month. I also have space for business forms, worksheets or articles but I also keep these on my computer as well.

Its a very simple, no frills system that just helps me not feel so overwhelmed by the ideas in my head.

How do you stay on top of it all?