Good to Know #3: Managing Your Time

a sneak preview

How do you manage your time?

issue #3

What’s your secret to tackling the mountain of work that never seems to end?

sneak preview only

issue #3 advice + inspiration from artists/illustrators/ designers on creativity, business and life. www.pikaland.com/goodtoknow pikaland.etsy.com

get your copy at www.pikaland.com/goodtoknow

How do you manage your time?

What’s your secret to tackling the mountain of work that never seems to end?

download the tiny notebook tutorial + to-do jotter template here:

http://pikaland.com/file_download/28/to_do_jotter.zip

Like everyone else, I deal with a schedule that is hectic at times. There’s plenty of things to be done everyday as I grapple with holding down several projects at a time. I’m also a part-time corporate copywriter!

I plan out my week in advance and prefer my lists to be written out in a format where I can see and schedule my projects across the week.

Like many others in this issue, I like the feeling of crossing off an item on the list as it gives me a lot of satisfaction!

I make it a point to sleep earlier during the weekdays and to allow some time in the weekends for play and relaxation with my husband. So keeping my schedule is important as if I don’t, he’ll be the first to suffer!

I’m also beginning to find freelance helpers to help out with certain aspects of running Pikaland, as I have come to the realization that I can’t do it all alone. I also need to allocate some time to my family, dogs, cooking, and to keeping the house clean and being burned out is not something I’d like to experience ever again.

Amy www.pikaland.com In conjunction with this issue, we have a free PDF download of a handy, tiny jotter that you can print out for use; along with an instruction sheet that teaches you how to fold one (see left). Enjoy!

I try hard to actively notice how I spend my time, and make sure that I’m using it to do the things I really want to do. I have always found lists helpful in planning out my time and the tasks to fill it, and love the satisfaction of ticking things off as they’re done.

It is important for me block out periods of time for my practice, and to religiously protect that time from the invasion of friends, family, TV and chores.

Perhaps it is selfish, but it’s essential to my happiness!

I remember reading that we all have 24 hours a day, and so if you spend 8 sleeping and 8 working that still leaves 8 waking hours to spend however you choose… I choose drawing!

Kerry Lemon www.kerrylemon.co.uk www.kerrylemon.blogspot.com www.kerrylemon.etsy.com

I have been learning though to look at the larger picture: what are my goals, what is it I am either working toward or supposed to be concentrating on.

If what comes ahead of me does not meet my criteria in advancing whatever I am doing it can either wait or not be taken on. Being married with a lively one year old and working out of a home office can also present problems in getting projects done.

What works best for me is working in the evenings when everyone is asleep and turning off the cell phone and shutting down the computer.

I try to remember that the emails will still be there in the morning and it is nothing that important that it can’t wait till the next day. It also helps me to remember that it is what I like to call “the Napoleons of the small things� which are the small distractions - messages that call for your attention and steal your time. These things add up quickly leaving you behind schedule, fast.

If this should fail, my wife is pretty good at keeping me on task and on schedule. :) Rob Bridges Illustration http://www.robbridges.com/

I try to use the hours when my children are at school to the best that I can. Before I fall asleep I think about all the things I’d like to do the next day and sometimes I try to write down some ideas (if I’m not to sleepy!)

Ilaria Benedetti http://www.benila.etsy.com

I am a compulsive list maker. Supposedly this makes me organised, but mostly it’s just a way of stopping all the things I need to remember from buzzing round my head, so it helps me relax. Sometimes there is too much, and one list won’t do. I divide them into categories: emails to send, commissions to finish, things to change on my website and so on.

But even then it can be overwhelming. Then I start making a priority list. I divide the tasks into ‘urgent’, ‘important’ and ‘not immediate’. Usually it’s easy to place things, and then as if by magic I have an instruction sheet that tells me what needs to be done first. And I love the satisfaction of crossing off a job done.

Plus I always try to sneak a bit of downtime, a relaxing bath or a little shopping treat into the ‘urgent’ section.

Katie Green www.katiegreen.co.uk

issue #3 PARTICIPANTS Kerry Lemon www.kerrylemon.co.uk

Susan Schwake www.susanschwake.com

Rob Bridges Illustration www.robbridges.com/

Kathy thegreenzebra.etsy.com

Ilaria Benedetti www.benila.etsy.com

Katherine Quinn www.katherine.blogspot.com

Katie Green www.katiegreen.co.uk

Emily Walsh orangeyellowblue.blogspot.com

Amy Cartwright Illustration amycblogpage.blogspot.com/

Iris Mesko www.a-z-slowenisch.de

Suzan Choy www.obokchoy.com

Sue B www.suebleiweiss.com

Suzanne L. Vinson www.silvertreeart.net

Jen Lambein / Studio Petite www.studiopetite.etsy.com

Shawna Stobaugh

www.shawnanonna.etsy.com

Candice Hartsough McDonald www.cordialkitten.etsy.com

Rachael Amen numbereight.etsy.com

Jo Cheung http://www.jocheung.com

Keeki http://www.keeki.co.uk

Dawbis www.paperislovely.tumblr.com www.flickr.com/photos/dawbis

Cathie Urushibata http://www.cathieu.com/ Lauren Denitzio Black & Red Eye blackandredeye.com

Justina Klybaite justesblogas.blogspot.com/ Sam www.matouenpeluche.etsy.com

Lindy Gruger Hanson www.lgruger.com

Dolores achtungkinder.blogspot.com

Laura Jones lauratheartistjones.blogspot.com

Julie Green upupcreative.blogspot.com

40 pages A5 size staple bound 29 participants black & white text + illustrations free PDF: tiny jotter project

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To download a PDF copy of the zine or have an issue delivered to your door, head over to: http://pikaland.com/goodtoknow