WFH Round Four: Organization
I’ve stopped realistically planning for longer than the upcoming 48 hours ahead of me. As laid back as I am with most things in life, keeping track of lists and goals is definitely not one of them i.e. three calendars, one planner, two idea journals, and way too many sticky notes all over my home.
Hustling is in my blood.
And so is worrying.
2020 so far has been the ultimate test of faith and persistence with no signs of slowing down, and dealing with trying to keep a small business afloat on top of everything going on in our world felt overpowering at first to say the least. Then I took several steps back and reminded myself to focus on what I can control.
- None of us have any concept of time anymore- hang up a calendar, even if just to remember what day it is. Target has sold $3 ones over the last few years, and they’re cute af.
- If you don’t already own a planner, take the time to sort through options and find a type that fits your lifestyle best. There’s also a ton of small businesses that even offer customization. Personally, we love undated smaller sizes that are easy to carry around (which also tend to not be super expensive, hooray!)
- I changed my habit of making daily to-do lists into weekly goals and took some pressure off myself, the only tasks that were recorded in a place I saw every morning were the ones with concrete deadlines.
Break up tasks and chunk ‘em together into smaller groups to prioritize and create visual and mental separation. Start by drawing a quadrant and labeling your categories ex. family/work/ self care/home.
- Instead of scheduling specific time frames during the day to finish tasks, I altered my daily routines by setting aside an approximate time block. For example, today I’ll spend an hour cleaning the studio vs. clean specifically between 1-2pm. This has also helped me set personal limits and walk away from working on something since I’m kind of a perfectionist that has to see an entire project through.
- Organize spaces to ease feeling physically cramped (you can find our blog about setting up a wfh area here). Typically, spaces can feel smaller when items spread out over multiple surfaces, so try stacking! We use tall shelves with multiple storage areas to display items vertically.
- Take inventory of supplies you have to work with so you don’t end up in an endless spiral shopping online - it’s like when buying clothes is so much easier when you can walk into your closet with your laptop and see what you already own.
Bonus tip: Finance Fridays
Math was never enjoyable to me growing up, but scaling a business without knowledge of basic accounting is nearly impossible. Every Friday, I pull out all our business expenditure receipts and invoices for the week and record those numbers into Quickbooks. There is a subscription fee, however switching to an online software to take care of this has already proven to be a solid investment (thanks robots!)
Stay kind and take it one small step at a time, love y'all.
Disclaimer: I'm writing this from the POV of a healthy(ish) able bodied young(ish) woman with no kids or pets and no intention of telling you what to do because there's no correct way to deal with the current trash fire that is the world at the moment. Also, I'm not a professional writer or self-proclaimed expert, and have no intention of spurring debate or entertaining any negativity. I'm aware there's an extra amount of blogs and email newsletters floating around lately and I honestly suggest reading them all to see if anything can be useful to you. The tips shared below are based on personal experience and ideas as an artist and small business owner, if you can relate to me and find any of these practical, fantastic! If not, I hope you can find someone/something else that brings you clarity and connection during this time.