Did you know that February is National Time Management Month? One way I like to get control of my time use is by time blocking on my calendar. What is time blocking? It’s a method of allocating or pre-assigning time for specific activities throughout your day. It helps me keep my day and life more balanced. I accomplish more because I have structure to my day, I can focus on a specific task with a high value, and I’m able to manage interruptions. I’m the one in charge of my day. Here’s how to do this:

1. Review your daily and weekly activities.

• Can you determine how much time you spend on specific tasks? It might be helpful to track your time for a few days so you can see how much time you do spend on those activities. For example, do you check your e-mail every couple of hours and find that you spend at least 15 minutes each time answering them?

• Do you have like tasks that are spread through out the week, e.g., teaching every day or taking in new quilts to longarm? Can these tasks be handled on one or two days, so your energy focuses on one activity?

• Do you have tasks that need attention that don’t seem to get any? For example, dedicated marketing time is key for any business. Artists want to spend their time creating and often have trouble reconciling the need to spend so much time marketing. This task is often relegated to the leftover time when it needs to move to the front burner.

• Do you have uninterrupted time for creative work? Even though we run creative-based businesses, the time should still be dedicated to the task.

2. Consider your short- and long-term goals.

• Do you have a big project that needs to be completed? Start with a list of the tasks involved to complete it and estimate how much time is involved for each.

3. Consider your own personal work habits. When are you most effective? I’m a morning person, and I know I am more productive in the morning. For me this translates into activities that require brain-power earlier in the day.

4. Armed with answers to those questions, get out your calendar and begin to block off time for your activities. What most of us do is set appointments with others and that’s what is on our calendar. We then fill our time with items on our goals or to-do list. This system lets you set an appointment with yourself for your work. Once you’ve shifted to an “appointment” mindset, it’s often easier to accomplish tasks on your list. With your goals in mind, put the important tasks first so you’ll accomplish them. If I don’t block time for the key tasks, I can easily spend lots of time on simple tasks, like folding fabric and putting it away or reading the latest quilt magazine or checking Facebook. These items don’t move my business forward in a significant way. Here are some things you might like to time-block:

• quilt intake time on one or two afternoons or evenings a week, rather than at odd times.
• time dedicated to longarm work
• creative time to design patterns
• marketing time
• bookkeeping, if you don’t have outside help
• order fulfillment, if you don’t have outside help
• learning time
• time to work on blog posts and your communications with clients
• writing time if you are working on a book
• time to complete samples
• time to read and respond to emails (I know you will have times when you need to check for something particular. When that happens, just handle that one item and save the rest for the blocked time.)
• time to develop new classes
• breaks in your day (This can be crucial if you are standing or sitting at a machine most of your day.)

To give you an idea of how I time block my week, I have our member calls and coaching calls on Tuesdays rather than spaced throughout the week. I allot one block of several hours during the week on one day to work on my blog and ezine articles. Because I’m working on a new program, I block time during each day to work on that. It’s a goal with many smaller tasks that need to be completed. I also block out time twice a day for e-mail, so I’m not checking constantly. I have an hour each day blocked out for reading or learning something new I can apply to the business. I block out Thursday afternoons for errands. Because I know that’s the day for errands, I try to schedule doctor appointments during that time, and I’ve already scheduled my hair appointments through October. I also block out time for family and self-care, so they don’t get lost.

I’m not rigid with the time blocking, and, of course, I have other appointments to put in. This week I have my local guild meeting and a professional quilt guild meeting.

In the end the reason I think this works is because when you pre-assign the time for a specific activity, you are more focused on getting it done. In a sense, you created a deadline for yourself. And by batching like tasks together in the same block (like the quilt intake sessions), you work more efficiently.

Let me know how time blocking works for you.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. This article was excerpted from The Professional Quilter, the IAPQ membership journal. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

Hand Appliqué With Embroidery
Sandra Leichner
AQS Publishing; $26.95

As a fan of Sandra Leichner’s quilts, I was looking forward to the release of her first book, Hand Appliqué With Embroidery. In the introduction she mentions that she’s always been fascinated by the details and how important they are to the finished product. I think if you’ve studied her work, that’s what impresses you: her attention to detail. The detail is most often done with embroidery embellishment techniques. In this book she teaches you her needleturn appliqué process and then shows you how to add texture and dimension through embellishment. To learn and build on your skills, she includes three small projects. With new skills and confidence, you are ready to create your own variation of Sandra’s award-winning “Tea With Miss D” quilt. I think you’ll be thrilled with adding these techniques to your tool box.

Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

In the Winter 2011 issue of The Professional Quilter, Mindy Caspersen interviewed fellow longarm quilter Barbara Dann about her business. Barbara began her longarm business 10 years ago and specializes in hand-guided quilting. She also represents Alto QuiltCut2. Here’s an excerpt from the profile:

I know that you were working from home and then moved your business to a store. How long did you have your business at home?

My business was in my home for the first nine years, and I moved to a store downtown about a year and a half ago.

What prompted you to move to a storefront?

I wanted to get out of the house. I have teenage boys and wanted to use that space for a family room for them. I also wanted more separation of my business and personal life. It’s too easy to let the business take more of your time when you’re working from home. And I wanted a more professional business appearance. I felt that a store would give me more presence in the community and people would view me as more professional.

How has this changed your quilting business?

My attitude about work has changed. I’m more focused at the store than I was at home. My business has also grown because I get more walk-in clientele, and I do have more presence in the community as a business.

Has this affected your family life in a positive way?

Absolutely! My time at home is more focused on the family now, and I am not pulled away by the business. My boys are now learning to help out more at home and be more self-sufficient. They’re even learning to cook!

Has this affected your business hours? Do you find yourself working more or less?

My business hours are much more defined now. It feels like I work less hours but much more efficiently. I’m not also trying to squeeze in the laundry and household chores at the same time, so I’m much more focused when I’m at work.

Do your family, friends and customers treat you more like a business now that you’re in a store?

Yes, except my mother. She still likes to call during the day to chat! My customers do see me more as a professional now, and they treat me more like a professional now. When you’re working from home, your customers don’t always see a distinction between work hours and family time, but now they do. I used to get calls and drop-ins during the evenings and on weekends. That issue has completely resolved itself because I’m not in the store at those times, so my personal time is not disrupted.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. This article was excerpted from The Professional Quilter, the IAPQ membership journal. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

Are you a New Year’s resolution maker? I used to be, and probably like many of you some resolutions fell by the wayside.

Several years ago I decided to try something new. I’ve picked a word or two to reflect and act on for the year; it is my intention for all I do. I started this practice in my yoga class. Kathy, the owner of the yoga studio, passes around a basket with words, and we each draw one. This year I missed the first day of class, and Kathy saved the basket, as she knew I would want my word. Yesterday in class, I picked my 2011 word.

The word I drew is mindfulness, which I think is a good one. Those in our Setting and Achieving Goals call last week may remember I mentioned being present in certain goal areas. This will keep that in the forefront for me.

I also like to pick a word on my own that I think will influence my work towards my goals. The word I chose early this year is abundance. For me this means I want to earn abundantly, to share abundantly and to give abundantly. They are all tied together. I can’t give abundantly if I don’t earn abundantly. I can’t earn abundantly if I don’t share abundantly. I also like how mindfulness can tie into this.

I’ve taken both words and have them on notes at my computer so I can reflect on them as I work. Last year, several readers of this e-zine told me they made fiber art of their words. If you did that this year, please share links to your words on our blog.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here

Dual Image Appliqué
Dilys Fronks
AQS; $26.95

As Dilys Fronks looked back at her work of many years, she realized that positive and negative design shapes had surfaced in much of her work. That led to her focus on dual image appliqué. Dilys uses a fused appliqué technique and ends up with two opposite images from the same pattern. These can be used in the same project or two separate projects. The book includes 10 projects to tackle once you have the basics, each project building on or adding to the skill of those learned previously. I liked the detailed instruction and close-up photos. Patterns are included with enlargement instructions, as is a gallery of images to inspire you.

Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

Did you spend time in the last few weeks setting goals both personally and for your business? Are you making progress on them?

Are your goals written? That’s a big key to achieving them. Written goals have the odds stacked in their favor. I think it’s because you spend time to get clear about what you want, and that lets you focus on your end result. Here are some more tips to achieving big results with your goal setting.

1. Make at least one goal a stretch goal. The definition of a stretch goal would be one that is big and possible, one might seem unattainable with your current skill set, one that will cause you to grow. What this does is challenge you to think outside the box. It also energizes and excites you as you figure out how you’ll achieve it.

2. Figure out why the goal is so important to you and what you’ll give up to make it happen. For example, if one of your goals is to increase your income by 10%, it might be important because you want to remodel your studio. If you know your why, it will help keep you stay focused on your goal. At the same time consider if you need to give up something to help in the effort. Again using the same example, maybe you need to give up that after-dinner TV show and read something that can help you build your business.

3. Chunk down each goal into tasks. Look at the date when you choose to have your goal complete and work backwards with a list of tasks. Breaking it down makes it seem less formidable and keeps you on track.

4. Take action and track it. It sounds simple, yet people don’t always take action. Chunking it down helps a lot here. I also like to use a tracking form to check off where I am on my goals. Using our example above, you could start to chart your income each week. That way you can see if you are on track, and, if not, consider what you can change to meet your goal.

5. Find an accountability partner. It helps if you have  someone on your side, cheering and prodding. I am in a mini-mastermind group with three of the women from the high-level mastermind I was in last year. We all know each others’ businesses and can offer input and a gentle push if we’re behind.

6. Reward yourself. If you are making progress on your goals, treat yourself to something. You could even decide your reward ahead of time. Back to our example, maybe you get a massage if your financial goal is on track at the end of the month.

Good luck with achieving your goals. And, feel free to share your ideas on the here.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

A Notion to Celebrate
Melissa Bickle
Leisure Arts; $14,95

If you’re like me, you don’t need any more cookies, chocolate, muffins or other treats right now. The holidays seem to offer plenty in that area. When A Notion to Celebrate arrived this week with its candy boxed array of ribboned cupcakes, I was thrilled to find instructions to create fabric treats. Melissa Burke offers instructions to make 18 types of truffles for your candy box using a foam ball, ribbons, buttons, pins, sequins, pom poms and other assorted embellishments. You can create cupcakes, a Valentine’s wreath, a cake, Halloween treats and lots more. I’m waiting for next Winter when I can try the gingerbread house. Enjoy and don’t count the calories!

Look for this book at your local shop.

Are you a multitasker? Do you read your e-mail while you’re on the phone and at the same time bind your quilt? We’ve all been there, and I’m hoping to put my multitasking in the past.

According to Harvard Business Review blogger Paul Atchley, studies show that multitaskers are less efficient, perhaps by as much as 40%, than they think. He says that it takes an average of 15 minutes – and I’ve read numbers as high as 40 minutes – to reorient oneself to the main task. Wow – 15 minutes! Can you imagine how much time you waste on a daily basis trying to get back to the task at hand?

If you want to break your multitasking habit, here are four tips:

1. Focus on one task at a time. Atchley says our attention starts to wane after 18 minutes. He suggests that if that happens and you switch to a different task, make notes about the first task to make it easier when you go back. I think that if your attention wanes, it might be time for a quick stretch and then quickly re-focus on the same task.

2. Since I mentioned focusing on a task, be sure to divide your project into doable tasks. Set a timer for the task. I find it easier to focus if I have specifically set the time aside.

3. Eliminate distractions. This could be closing the door to your studio, letting the answering machine pick up the calls, stopping the audible tones of your e-mail. What’s key is paying attention  – again focus – to your task.

4. Stick with it until it’s done and done right.

And, if you think multi-tasking is only a problem today, here’s a good quote from Lord Chesterton, attributed to a letter to his son in the 1740s:

“There is time enough for everything in the course of the day if you do but one thing at once; but there is not time enough in the year if you will do two things at a time.”

Good luck single-tasking. And, if you have a tip to share, please post on the blog.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

The New Year is two days away. I’m excited about some of the things I have planned. I have some exciting new business programs to announce in the next few months, and I’ve started a coaching program for creative entrepreneurs.

As I look ahead, I can see that I have a lot to accomplish, and I need to stay focused to do that. A lot of you know that one of my favorite planning resources is Your Best Year Yet by Jinny Ditzler, and following her process helps me focus. See the review below.

I wanted to share five tips to keep in mind as you start 2011:

1. Set time for yourself in your calendar. The older I get, the more important I realize that this is. And, I’m sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t take enough time for her or himself. It’s important to find a little time here and there to care for ourselves. We’ll feel happier and stronger inside and this will in turn make us happier and stronger business people. For me, the best way to do this is to make an appointment for self-care in my calendar. One good reference on self-care is The Art of Extreme Self Care by Cheryl Richardson.

2. Set time in your calendar to grow your business. Many of us are solopreuneurs and tend to spend much of our time working in our business when we should be working on our business. Again, the calendar is a great tool. A quarterly business retreat is an option, so is working with a coach. I’ve set time aside to meet on the phone with a Mastermind group.

3. Allow adequate time for marketing. For many, the production is the fun part and the marketing takes a back seat. I’ve had more than one person tell me that she spends two to four times as many hours marketing herself and her product as she does producing the product. Marketing is an ongoing process; you are always marketing. I love this quote from actress Carrie Fisher, “There is no point at which you can say, ‘Well, I’m successful now. I might as well take a nap.'” This keeps me focused on marketing my product.

4. Keep on top of your financials. I know, most people do not enjoy bookkeeping, and if you can hire someone to take it over, that’s great. But watch your numbers. You need to know what’s coming in and what’s going out. What is your ROI (return on investment) for your activities? Your business can’t grow if you aren’t aware of the financials. The Winter issue of The Professional Quilter will include an article on common mistakes small business owners make with their accounting. Watch for it.

5. Remember why you got into business. For many of us, it was our love of quilting or fiber arts and wanting to share our gifts with other quilters. Sure, we work hard at it, and we are rewarded. When times get tough, step back and remember what got you in the business. Maybe use some of that self-care time to make something for yourself. Another quote I like is from Thomas A. Edison. “I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.”

Hope these tips get you off to a positive start. Feel free to share your ideas with others here on the blog.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

By Sherrill Kahn
Martingale & Co.; $27.95

Sherrill Kahn has focused her career in the arts, first as an art educator for 30 years and now in retirement as the owner of Impress Me, a rubber stamp company. In this her sixth book, she shares her journey of discovery as she experimented with everyday objects to create art. Some of what she shares is how to use your electric griddle for a melted-crayon technique, how to create fabric cord, how to batik with glue, and how to use cosmetic cotton pads to create small embellishments. The 16 techniques ideas are imaginative and can be used on fabric, paper, jewelry and more. The book also includes chapters on composing good designs and making backgrounds. If you want to try some new techniques in the new year, this would be a good reference. You just need to ask, “What if?”

Here’s a link to Amazon to learn more about the book.