How I get things done

I received a comment the other day from Kat about my prodigious crafty output. Not tooting my own horn, but I definitely feel that I have improved the consistency of volume of output I have been producing at late (the month off work helped as well). Alot of this is due to actually being at home near my sewing machine, rather than off and about for work. Having said that, I have had actually needed to be disciplined in my approach to my sewing as I seem to be addicted to the internet. I also get a bit stuck after I start a project - I get a big whack of inspiration that gets me through the initial purchase of material and the cutting out, but then all the fun goes out of it for me and things tend to languish in a state of partial completion for weeks.

So, I have developed a new philosophy of crafty output - the 30 minute window. Rather than getting depressed about the need to spend 3 hours finishing off a quilt binding or doing some shirts, I only commit myself to 30 minutes of work at any given time (having a small attention span is the other reason for the 30 minute window). After the 30 minutes, I plan to have another activity - checking my bloglines, making tea or doing some chores. This approach works for me for a number of reasons:

1. You can fit 2 or 3 30 minute sessions in a day, even a week day. I can get 30 minutes in before work, and then another couple after dinner. So you can make progress even when you don't have a big block of time to spare (which seems to be most work days to me). The only big aspect of discipline here is you have to make the effort to DO the 30 minute session. Cheating here is useful - pining or tacking in front of the TV still counts ;)

2. You can actually get ALOT done in 30 minutes if you force yourself to time box it as a deadline... it's a little challenge to yourself to get stuff done.

3. Following on from point 2, the crappy bit of any given project I often get stuck on and procrastinate about can generally be sorted out in 1 or 2 30 minute sessions - and then the bit you imagined was painful is all over and done with

4. Even when I am tired and cranky, I can usually force myself to spend 30 minutes doing something if I have something specific planned with a specific end point - and most of the time, I do feel less cranky (if no less tired) for doing something I actually enjoy during the week rather than just working :)

5. 30 minutes at a time on one job or in one position means my back stays happy!

And on the weekends, the 30 minute window means I still get laundry etc done.

I have been advocating this approach to Kathryn, who is suffering from lack of creative expression due to a big bit of creation on her part, 10 week old Hailey (please correct me if I have her age wrong, Kat) It may be a bit early to commit to that big project, but hopefully life will settle down long enough to try out the 30 minute (or 15 minute, or 10 minute) model!

P.S. This post is a perfect example of time boxed creativity. Thanks to dragging my laptop to and from for work each day, I had it on the train home and could write this post in the 20 minutes or so to get home. And, this filled up the trip nicely!