IF ONE OF YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS IS TO DO MORE CRAFT, FINISH YOUR UFOS OR LEARN SOMETHING NEW, YOU MIGHT FIND IT WILL HELP TO PUT SOME STRATEGIES INTO PLACE NOW TO ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS. THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS ARE JUST A FEW TO KICK START YOUR GOAL REACHING.
IF YOU HAVE OTHER STRATEGIES THAT WORK FOR YOU, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE THEM WITH US IN THE COMMENTS FIELD BELOW.
by Judy Newman
Set yourself a deadline. Give yourself a date to finish a project and work towards it – just as if you were entering a competition or submitting a project for publishing, adding a little self-imposed pressure could mean the difference between finishing a project and having it languishing for weeks on end.
Run an organised household. If it’s your responsibility to shop or cook, unfortunately there’s probably no way to get out of it. But you can make sure you are organised and saving as much time as possible. Theorganisedhousewife.com.au has some great tips for time saving on jobs in and around the household – from decluttering to meal planning and everything in between!
Have projects on the go at various stages (most likely not a problem!) so that you can move from one to another straight away without losing momentum. This helps when you get temporarily stuck on one.
Recognise when to outsource. If you have a quilt top sitting there that you’re tired of looking at but you want finished, then maybe it’s time to think about sending it out to get professionally quilted so you can move onto something that you really do want to do. Some machine quilters will offer to add the binding too, just ask them.
Add craft time into your schedule – just like any other appointment. If you are busy with work, look at your day and see where you can add some me-time. During the week this may only be between 8pm and 10pm, but you’ll actually get a lot done in that time!
Always have a project on hand – you may be waiting to pick up the kids after soccer training, or swim squad, or in a doctor’s waiting room. Right there is a little window of time to work on a project – so make sure you have something small in your bag to pull out and work on – anytime, anywhere. A little crochet, English paper piecing, doodling in your art journal and embroidery are all great mobile projects.
If you’re planning to make gifts for birthdays or Christmas, get started ahead of time – you want it to be a handmade Christmas gift made with love, not a piece of fabric wrapped up with a promise!
To Do Lists – a simple tool for getting things done – and it works for craft projects too. Put that list up on your pinboard so you can start crossing things off.
Take a break. Every 30 minutes or so, get up and move, do some gentle stretches and get the blood flowing, this may help to avoid repetitive injuries or back issues and you’ll get an energy boost as well.
Eliminate distractions by disconnecting for a while. Whether it is your email, Facebook, or your phone that causes those little interruptions, you can do without them for a while. So simply turn them off and focus on the task at hand.
Enjoy seeing those projects come to fruition and share your successes with the IntoCraft team!
For great project ideas and all the products you need, visit a Craft Event near you in 2015. The displays, guest artists, classes and retailers provide so much inspiration, and you can walk out with everything you need for your next projects.