Time Management

[teresapersell 0]

OK I have my machine and all my piecing machines and my own room to work in. Hooray.

I also have dishes, laundry, 2 dogs, a handful of grandkids, and a full time job at a fabric shop so I want to make every sample I see.

What do you do to Keep on Track? I am so easily distracted.

Love all the help I find here.

Teresa

[Primitive1 802]

Since I work at home, I find that it works well for me to set up "working" hours where I only longarm - the rest just needs to find time as if I worked outside of the home to get done...

[AHuffman 179]

This is a tough topic. In my heart I know that I shouldn't get online while drinking my coffee in the morning. I get lost in Facebook and blogs and forums. But it is so much fun!

I have found that I have to force myself to carve out work hours. But even those rules get bent more often than I care to admit. If you have any tips... please share them!

[Beachside Quilter 704]

Huh?? :P

(My husband says I have no sense of time!)

[Neher-in-law5 254]

It will help to decide when you really do your best work. I'm finding that I don't get much done until later in the day unless I need to have it ready for someone or am working with them. That goes for sewing or any other have to job.

[Busy Quilting 442]

If you are going to make quilting your occupation then treat it as a job.

Define when your working hours are going to be.

Do your housework etc outside of these working hours.

Do not work in your pyjamas, unless they are your "uniform" of choice.

I do not work on customer quilts on a weekend, that is my family or me time.

And if I insist on only using the computer when drinking a coffee, then I must stop when the coffee is finished and only drink two cups a day!

[Quilting Heidi 1,398]

I set goals and targets for myself to keep me on track. Now if I could keep my family from messing with that I'd be all set! LOL It does help though. Off to sew for a few hours now, not that I want to but I've set a goal so I'll stick to it!

[JudithWashburnQuiltStudo 37]

I read "Professional Machine Quilting: The Complete Guide to Running a Successful Quilting Business by Carol A. Thelen" and she had logical and had realistic way of planning. This was an easy read and it's about 30 pages.

[Bonnie H 557]

Originally posted by Busy Quilting

Do not work in your pyjamas, unless they are your "uniform" of choice.

I've been working from home for 22 years now. Primarily, in the mornings I work in my jammies because I literally fall out of bed and am off to the "office" where I work until I can't stand to sit anymore, then I break with a shower and back to work if it's busy. My kids grew up in this environment and they know how I function.

One day, not too long ago, my now grown stepdaughter decides to drop by without calling, on a work day. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon and I still hadn't taken a shower as I was so busy with work I lost track of time. Imagine my surprise when she brought a friend who happened to be a BOY with her and I'm still in my PJs, in the afternoon, hair's a mess, I'm a mess, peaking out the door, afraid to open it all the way for fear of what they are going to see! :P:P:P:P She's lucky I let her live!!!

[Sams Mom 1]

My first suggestion is a simple kitchen timer. Set it for an hour and don't do anything but quilt for an hour. You can take a break after that but remember to reset it. Second, eliminate the computer from you quilting area. I don't have internet in my studio. That helps ALOT!

[NanaFuller 3]

I so know what you mean! I quilted from 6am to 8am this morning just to get a little time in. I practice my drawing and catch up on internet 'stuff' on my lunch hour. Sometimes when I get home from work I am too tired to do much. Then on the weekends my husband likes to go to our country get away and I can't take Lenni with me..... So i do piece work.

[calicokat 33]

I recently started listening to books on cd from the local library. I use my old "walkman" in a jogging belt strapped to my waist. I put one earbud in, and keep one out so I can still hear the machine.

Before this, I would stop after 15 minutes or so and check on the laundry, do a little bit of housework, maybe make a phone call, go outside and check on the chickens, etc. (Maybe adult ADD?? LOL)

Listening to the books, (maybe because technically, I'm already multi-tasking and distracted???) I stay at the quilt machine longer - I mean a lot longer! I've read over and over about others listening to books on thier iPods or whatever, and never gave it a try. But now that I have, I highly, highly recommend giving it a try!

I have a PT job, Wed. - Fri. so Monday is my household errand day, and Tuesday is my dedicated quilting day. I try to squeeze in some quilting in the evenings as well, and of course on the weekends when we're home. But staying focussed and getting a lot done on Tuesdays is the key to a good quilting week for me.

[Heritage Keepsakes 141]

Reported

[RitaR 647]

After this week, (when we are cleaning up for a last min. 25th anniversary for our daughter and son-in-law on Sun.),

I will be back to quilting more and more.

 

I have to work around a lot of Dr. appts for Himself and for I, as well as things we do with the ECA, the Farm to table

distribution center, and shopping.. all those kinds of nasty things..

 

I do ignore a lot and make time to quilt.. roflmho  doing that too much leads to 4 day cleaning sprees.   If I don't,

then I have no time and an aching body, and have no quilting done.

 

Rita

[barbm 328]

Reported