I love the title of this post because it is SO unlike me. I thrive on chaos which doesn’t really work when you own your own business. It’s taken me YEARS to get my system down and I tweak it all the time. Right now, I have a ton of custom jobs, branding work and a shop that is booming. Add on to that a toddler with her own schedule already, a husband with his own schedule, family events and meal planning and a girl can get overwhelmed. SO I thought I would share my top tips and beloved products for staying organized!
1.) Get a planner already. I have to tell you, when I started writing things down, my life changed. Currently, I use the Day Designer by Whitney English. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this thing. There is a page for each day and space to prioritize that to-do list. It really helps me focus on those busy days.
2.) Coordinate. So it may seem a little redundant but I copy my above planner into ical and share it with the hubby. We have calendars for home, work, and the kid. I can’t tell you how much this has helped when I’m scheduling meetings or trying to figure out my work schedule.
3.) Folders. I used to hate it when they made us use a folder system at school. Now I’m obsessed. My etsy orders have 3 folders marking their position in production. My custom orders have a folder and a whole staple system with a face sheet of sorts. I keep track of everything on these pages that I designed. Create your own face sheet for projects with check lists and a place to write down the dates you did certain things.
4.) Keep your desk clean. The minute I start piling stuff on my desk, I start to feel cluttered and disorganized. By keeping your desk clean, only the important things that you need to work on end up on it. Not to mention it keeps me from having to be embarrassed by the state of my office.
5.) Do what works best for you! Take the time to come up with a system. By doing this early, you won’t end up in a tizzy when things get busy and IF things start to get out of hand, take a break and a calendar meeting with yourself. I did this last night and is lowered my stress level so much.
By staying organized, you leave room for creativity and time! But let me tell you, DON’T open my desk drawer. That’s where my chaos still lives and that is A OK with me!
Question: How do you keep your emails organized? Mine are out of control!
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Great post Caroline! I totally agree about the clean desk. Right now I have so much stuff on my desk that I can’t seem to focus. Must fix that tomorrow! As far as email, I use lots of folders (or labels in gmail)! If it isn’t top priority I often make myself a note and file it away and out of my inbox.
I have to pretty much purge my office about once a week and clean all the surfaces. It really does stifle creativity. I have lots of folders but now I’m trying to implement the zero inbox. Here goes!!!