Getting Things Done When You Work Full Time

Like many things in my life lately, the Philadelphia Bead Fest this past weekend was a lot to take in.  So many booths filled with color, so much to look at and see...

Sometimes when I have too much in front of me, I start to feel overwhelmed.  Thoughts begin to swirl...What should I do first?  Where should I begin, how will I get through all of this?  It happens at work (which issue should I tackle first?), at home (laundry? dishes?  mopping? putting clothes away?  making dinner?) and in my business (I need to redesign my website and there are so many options, where do I begin? Should I do it myself or hire someone?  I need an online shopping cart and a space to host online classes...how hard could it be to set up my own Wordpress site?)  

Then I just want to lay down and take a nap.  

There is so much to do that I want to do exactly NOTHING.

I have to continually remind myself that what always works best for me is to do what is in front of me to do next.  The important things first of course and then, just whatever is next.

It's simple.

It GETS THINGS DONE.

I often jot down lists because they help me stay focused.  I'm pretty loose about them. I don't put  them in order.  I just dump out the tasks onto paper so that I can get them out of my head and remember to do them.

Here is a sample from today.  Keep in mind I work full-time, so this is my after 5pm. or on my lunch hour list for my business and home life.


Over the next couple of days:


Send personal thank you notes to people who bought from me at the Heritage Wholesale Show I participated in this week (My first one-a huge risk for me, but I'm so glad I did it.  I ended up having a 50-unit sale of my Wonderwrap bracelets and making connections with a couple of different store owners!) I think it is so important to send a personal, hand-written thank you note to show how much you appreciate their business.

Register my daughter for summer camp

Go grocery shopping for food for the week

Stop by the antique store for more jewelry display ideas

Stop by Michaels' for some wire (I think I can do this on my lunch hour today)

Set up dates for upcoming classes

Email the students on my class list the dates of upcoming classes 

Work on creating a calendar for my blog posts and newsletters

Catch up on B-school Trainings and watch the Wordpress tutorial again

Facebook people in my jewelry groups regarding my new idea to create jewelry displays from antique or re-purposed items to see if there is a demand

Fold laundry and put it away

Celebrate the successes of my week (had great sales at the wholesale show, learned a new jewelry making skill, toured the country's first penitentiary in Philadelphia, got to spend some time in the sunshine, listening to a band play in Philly, spent good times with my family!)

I know it can seem like there isn't time to accomplish all that you want to do, but I encourage you to just begin doing one thing at a time and you will see the momentum start to build. Momentum is that beautiful thing that keeps you moving and motivated.

Be gentle on yourself if you don't get it all done. It's really ok if we have only 83 bracelets for the upcoming whole sale show instead of the 100 we hoped to have ready.  It's ok if you take a night off from your list to just do something fun and juicy.

Celebrate what you are able to accomplish. Look back over the past few days and spend some time complimenting yourself for the things you did-many may not have even been on the list, but they moved you forward just the same.

It's Time to Make Room for the Good Stuff

In times of transition, I have a fierce need to clear my space.  

Not just my physical space, but a widespread sweep of all the clutter that is glomming up my days.  Too much junk mail in my inbox, noise, time spent in ways that I resent...and right now, I am so ready to cut the cord. 

Are you ready for a shift?  And not just a shift in trying to find the positive, the good, the gratitude that you're wrangling out of moments that result from choosing what you don't want. I mean, are you ready to clear some internal and external space to allow for transition to occur?

If you're ready, it's time to seriously take an industrial-sized Swiffer to your life. To seek out every little nook where you are holding that which needs to be let go. To be uncompromisingly (yes-this is not a time for compromise!) ruthless in setting free what you no longer want to be a part of your life.

Do you have a house mostly full of things you don't want but feel obligated to keep?  If you're like me, you have walls that aren't the colors you chose but can't find time to paint.  The furniture is mostly from family members or former houses and just don't work now.  The closets are stuffed full sentiment or that which you feel guilty to let go of.

And then there are the things we might use someday, when we have the lake house or that garage sale or that might work perfectly in that next art project.

It's time to declare Enough!  To send what we do not love to a new place with someone that will receive joy from having it.  

You need to be ruthless with weeding out whatever it is that is cluttering both your mind and your physical space and the reason is this:  You want to make room to invite the good things in.  

It sounds simple, but think of this:

If your inbox is full of junk mail, will you miss the important invitation to join something you've been dreaming of?

If your mind is cluttered with thoughts of the past are you missing what's happening right now?

If you are settling for Aunt Margaret's hand me down furniture, will you have space for that fabulous piece you just spied at the Antique Fair?

Keeping what you don't really want (no matter what it is) actually drives away or holds at bay something you really do want.

It's time to release and here is my challenge:

Everyday, find at least 3 things to clear or cleanse from your mental or physical space. 

Need ideas?

I recommend choosing a small area to attack:

• Go through your bathroom cabinets (the bane of my existence!) and toss old makeup, mostly empty bottles of gunk, hair spray from the 80's...you only have to get rid of 3 things, but once you get going, who knows what might happen?
• Ransack your inbox and unsubscribe to sites you're no longer interested in (except this one of course...)
• Say "no" when they ask you at stores for your email address.  I do this with no explanation and it delights me.  Here is practice for you:  Store: "Can I have your email address?" You:  "No" 
• Put yourself on the "Do Not Send Junk Mail" list (you can find the contact at the bottom of any credit card advertisement)
• Tackle small spaces in your art studio and get rid of old projects, dried up paints and use up stuff you thought you might one day work in somewhere (we all have them, it's a dirty little artist secret) Don't go for the gold and try and do the whole room in one day.  Just pick one little area to start with like that box of collage items...
• Give yourself a few minutes of quiet meditation each morning before you dive in to your day.  Like sit on your bed and listen to your breath for 5 minutes. 

My goal is to have an actual space for everything I own that isn't the kitchen island, dining room table or any other flat surface I can find.  Splitting it up into tiny, little chunks works for me.

So here is the mantra:  "Declutter!  Purge!  Set it Free!  And open the door for all good things to come." 

My Secret to Making Ear Cuffs

I've been making these ear cuffs for people who are way more hip than I am...

This style is easy to make, thanks to this you tube tutorial (thank you Meilris!):

I did not opt to add the little chain and I use much smaller beads that fit more with my style.

 

No two are ever alike. There is always variation depending on where you place your bends and how you make your spirals.

Give it a try at home or join us for jewelry making class in January where we experiment with many types of designs and styles.  Here's a little peak at what we made during one class in October.

Samples of our student's creativity

What You Can Learn by Doing

For many years, I sat and wrote about having my own business in my journals. I was prolific about what businesses I could start, what strengths I could bring to each, what my downfalls might be and in what ways I might succeed or fail.  What I did very little of was take those ideas into the arena and DOTHEM!  I dabbled in things here and there, but I didn't make a commitment or really invest in making things happen.

Now that I'm diving in, I'm learning things I never could have imagined sitting out on my deck with my glass of wine, pondering all that I might do some day.

I began teaching jewelry making classes through my school district's Adult Education Department which has evolved into partnering with my friend Libby Dow to teach mobile classes in our community.  On Saturdays I teach kids art classes at Orenda Springs (did I mention I still work full-time?)   Every spare moment I have I make bracelets-I'm so excited that the orders just keep rolling in for them! Beads, elephants, skulls...My kitchen island is a sea of color! 

As I'm playing with teaching, creating and launching a business, my first and constant question is always "Do I enjoy this?"  Do I enjoy writing this blog?  What is it I like about it?  Do I enjoy twisting and bending wire?  Do I enjoy teaching kids?  What is it that gets me the MOST excited about what I'm doing and how can I do more of THAT?  That is the road I want to follow.

What have I discovered? 

I  LOVE Co-teaching. I love the collaboration, sharing and confidence that having the support of another in the room brings.  I've co-taught my last 3 classes and I've LOVED them.  When I teach alone, I sometimes leave with a sense of unease and I keep replaying things in my head that I should have said or done.  I don't feel that way when I co-teach, partly because the other person is always there to catch you if you stumble.

I'm going to make mistakes. I know that I have a crap load to learn about my online selling options.  I have my "jewelry" sales page set up to sell directly to those of you interested.  It's verified and secure and it works perfectly if you just buy one thing, but I have it set up to only sell one thing at a time!  That's not very efficient!  Fortunately, the person who taught me this by attempting to buy 3 bracelets was kind and helpful about it and now I know about it and can fix it.  It is just a matter of going back into Paypal and setting up a shopping cart vs. a Buy Now button-a distinction I did not realize the importance of until this happened. 

I need to figure out what's most important in growing my creative empire and make sure I give them time.   I'm spending so much time making that I have little time left for growing or promoting my business (or in participating in fun stuff like the online classes I signed up for this month and time with my family).  My next step is to begin planning in those important things so that I don't cut everything off at the knees by just making and nothing else.

Learning is what it's all about for me.  I'm getting clearer about what I really want to have in my life. I feel like I'm just at the beginning of something big.  It's uncertain, unknown and scares the crap out of me, but what could I gain if only I to rise to meet it?

Get Those Multiple Income Streams Flowing

One of the major things that keeps people from pursuing the lives they really want to live, is fear of not having enough money. 

You worry that you have to bring in enough money to support yourself and your dreams and if you don't you will fail.

So how do you smash the myth of the starving artist to pieces and really thrive? How do you build a sustainable business and life around what you love?

The best way that I know to create financial security and sustainability (that I first learned about years ago from Barbara Winter) is to have as many streams of money-love flowing to you as you can.  In ways that are satisfying and matter to you, but also deliver something of value to others.

I think of creating many ways to earn income as a fun, creative challenge. What will I think of next?  What can I try out to see if I like it? Where is there a need that I could help with?

I love painting and I have a blast thinking of all the ways I could potentially earn income from doing what I love that meets a need that I see.  You can do this too, by thinking of the needs people have around painting and developing your own offerings from those.

Here are some of the ideas I've been tossing around.  Keep in mind that each one is a potential income stream.

The need=Beautiful items that people would love to have in their homes
What you could offer=Selling your original paintings, prints, cards.  Have your designs made into products like ipad and phone covers, fabric, lampshades, table runners, tote bags, the options are endless.

The need=Helping others reconnect with their inner creative wisdom
You could teach this need through private or group painting lessons in your home, in a studio, in a yurt in the woods, online or via skype...
You could write an e-book to teach the content.  You could go for a book contract even...

Need=Beautifying your community
You could get hired to paint murals wherever the need is: on concrete walls, sides of businesses, in schools, on parking garages...  I just saw an ad on Craigslist that they're hiring someone for this in my hometown. 
Artist Shannon Crandall even did a project putting art displays in vacant storefronts in her community to make it look more vibrant and to get exposure for participating artists.

Need=Bringing artists together to share their gifts
You could open a collaborative art studio
You could host retreats that bring other artists in to paint together
You could build a support circle that meets in person or online
You could start a painting circle online

 Expand your thinking to bigger needs too...

Need=Reducing loneliness
You could start a non-profit that sends hand-painted cards to alleviate loneliness for people in Nursing Homes or hospitals

Need=Getting art into the hands of kids who can't afford supplies
You could organize a non-profit group that gathers art supplies and distributes them to schools and individuals in need.  May even partner with local community centers to get supplies out and offer classes as well.

The keys here are:
You're taking something you love doing and looking for how it can help others in some way-how it can add value. 

You're brainstorming ideas for multiple ways that you can bring money and joyful activity into your life and you are not putting it all in one basket.  You're developing a combination of offerings that will harmonize into a sustainable way of living.  If one source dries up, you have others and can develop new ones. 

If you stop enjoying one activity, you can move on to others.  This is such a beautiful thing to me because you're not set into any one thing for life.  Your streams change as your interests change.  You're not committing to doing the same thing for the next 20 years. You're meeting needs that exist now that you enjoy now.

You don't have to make a ton of money from each stream.  It's the combination of income from various streams that begins to build a financially stable base.  This takes a huge amount of pressure off of each idea.  It doesn't have to be a million dollar idea, but it does need to be worthy of your time and effort.

I love watching how other artists are creating this type of living for themselves.  Why not take a little time to think of an income stream that you can start building today?

What I Really Got Out of Flora Bowley's Course

A photo from our Bloom True Retreat Oct. 2013

Yes, I did enjoy peeking into how Flora creates her magical paintings and her videos on being bold and tapping into intuition.  But what I see as Flora's true greatness is her ability to lay a foundation that encourages people to actually be brave- to hang their vulnerability out there and have it received with acceptance, support and encouragement. 

What you might not know is that Flora sets up the container and then steps back and lets it all bloom on its own.  The best stuff happens not in sitting at home watching the videos on your computer, but in behind the scenes in the facebook group. (Flora doesn't regularly participate in the group-but she sets the tone and lets us go.)

I thought I would just learn to be a better painter (I think that happened too) but what really mattered to me was what I never expected, like...

* Making New Friends-I met another artist in the group who lives in my area and now we regularly get together to share ideas.  We're even planning ways to collaborate on classes and other good, juicy stuff.

* A Cheering, Support Group-If I have a question about art making or business, the Bloomers are my go-to group.  They are an open, generous gaggle of amazing people. Want to know how to hang your painting, mix paint, finish your edges, or buy canvasses cheap?  How about what to do when you have a show tomorrow and your prints just came back looking like crap?  How do you get started in getting license agreements?  The Bloomers help each other figure it all out.

* Facing Down Fear-I distinctly remember the first time I posted one of my paintings in the Bloom True Facebook Group. I was so very nervous and afraid of critique. I anxiously watched my computer, wondering 'will they like it, think it's horrid?  Ignore it?' What an amazing feeling to experience the support and encouragement that arrived. They gave me courage that I could do this.

* The New Life that is Blooming because of this class and this group. The group has been a sounding board for me as I launch my own creative endeavors.  As someone in the group put it, "Because of this group, I feel like anything is possible."  And it's true.  I took the class last October and our group is still going strong.  Spinning into sub-groups like....

A Painting Circle-Where people issue painting prompts and share their work

A Card Exchange-This was our first post-class event and we swapped art with each other.  I now have a beautiful assortment

A Business Sharing Group-For help on things like starting your website and selling your work

A Retreat-Planned for October this year and hopefully will evolve into an annual event

All of this has evolved because of one thing, I signed up for an online course with the hope that I could learn new techniques and make beautiful art as Flora does. But I found a safe space.  A sense of community.  New friends.  And, I get to see and experience their process (and unbelievable artwork) every day, even a year later.

I signed up to be an affiliate for Flora because I believe that what she does matters and it made a difference in my life and in the lives of those I have the honor of witnessing Bloom.  If you'd like more details on the class itself, please feel free to contact me at haveallthis@gmail.com.

Or, be bold and dive in!  You never know where that one small step may lead you (I do know it's leading me to Connecticut next month on an art retreat with fellow Bloomers...)  

Update for 2017, Flora's classes are still going strong and I continue to recommend them to my students. Here, 4 years later, I still maintain friendships and connections with members of this group and feel like it was the true beginning of my creative career. If you've never painting before, do not feel intimidated. You could not be more welcome and supported then you will be in this group.
 
You can find info.on the most recent online course right HERE.

And here's a little Preview Video so you can get a feel for Flora's Classes

 

How Do You Build Community?

This weekend I was in my hometown of Ithaca, NY and what stuck me most about being home is that you can feel a sense of community in the air.  Just a quick trip around my childhood neighborhood and you can feel the intention to draw everyone in...to make it a place people want to be.

Then I started thinking about what it takes to build a community.  What can we do to build up our own communities, whether it's in our own geographic area or on our webpage or facebook page or maybe in classes we are offering?

What makes a community?  

Well, in Ithaca there are sidewalks. It makes it easy to get around without fear.  In the community that you're building, make a sidewalk.  Make it easy for people to connect and feel safe.  Sidewalks=safe mobility.  Is your sidewalk (substitute your offering here) easy to navigate?  What is the feeling that you're creating for your visitors/students/neighbors? Do they feel safe leaving you a post, showing up alone in your class as who they are?

In Ithaca I noticed a tendency to share Abundance. When you're building your community, be generous with your gifts, ideas, praise, encouragement.  Give gifts freely and watch how the abundance is returned to you.  Communities are about sharing, and where anyone's success is everyone's success.  It's not about winning or beating others or trying to prove you're better than.

Free Apples

City Garden

Rescuing food, reducing hunger

Gather around a common goal. In Ithaca there is an investment in creating beauty.  Many places that used to be gray, concrete walls like parking garages, are now covered in murals.  The community is uniting around adding beauty in unexpected places.

It seems they even had a contest to transform the electrical (transformer?) boxes into works of art.  They are scattered all over the city and they're fantastic!  I wanted to run all over taking pictures of them!

Side View

 And people are planting flowers on the street corners just because...

What seeds are you planting where once was just a regular street corner? How are you adding to the world through what you're offering?  Be it beauty, information, knowledge? 

How can you bring people together to make your community and the world stronger and better?

In Ithaca, public spaces are an opportunity to come together.  The elementary school I went to now has a butterfly garden-a project the neighbors gathered together to create (as well as awesome play structures on the other side of the building the community also raised money to build and then actually built).

And they let everyone know they belong. Hang your flag out to let people know they are welcome.  As they are. Without trying to change them to make them fit.

St. Paul's Methodist Church

Start laying the foundation for what you would like to bring forth in the world.  

Today is a perfect day to begin.