So many people ask, "How do you get so much done?" Well I don't have a publishable Bonnie Answer, but here are my secrets...
Motivators - sometimes they work & sometimes they don't - same thing with a deadline (Although a deadline with a pay check might prove to be a better motivator.)
My most recent motivation was the fact that I was using a Library book. (Although in the past I have photocopied the patterns - for personal use only.) & I think the fact that I was making a replica helped here as well because I refered quite a lot to that color photograph in the book.
But I can procrastinate with the best of them - so those motivators only work every once in a while. (It's not like the library book is due today so I "had" to finish yesterday.)
Another big productivity factor for me is that I don't have any kids & my husband does not need my constant attention. (He can/will also fix meals.)
But the biggest in my opinion is that I do easy piecing quilts. I have yet to show you a "New York Beauty" - with or without papers.)
aside: I also do some applique, but that goes rather slowly for me. :o) I have a pile of prepared blocks that have been waiting for YEARS to become a quilt top. (I can actually make that statement about 3 or 4 projects.)
Another thing that makes me look productive is that I send out 99% of my quilts to be professionally finished - including attaching the binding.
Also I have a "Just do it" attitude towards quilting. I know that I am not making "show" quilts. (I honestly can't be bothered with all of that paperwork rigamarole.) I rarely "unsew." I don't use a design wall - fiddling with balance, etc. Nor do I have my blocks arranged so that I am sewing this block to that block, etc. I just sew them together with some very mild controls.
(I don't have a huge social calendar - nor do my non-existant kids - nor does my husband, so I am sewing while others are playing bridge, golf, bowling - or out to dinner with friends, or driving to & fro, etc. With that said, I am going to a lecture with my friend at the National Zoo tonight. I also do not keep an immaculate home & my husband helps with the chores a lot.)
Lots of little things add up.
What are your secrets or stumbling blocks to productivity?
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11 comments:
Great post! I go into the studio every day and do something, even if it's just to tidy it up. Being there is often all the kick in the butt I need to get things accomplished.
Yeah! wonderful post!! I agree about the ripping out...I rarely do it!
Between your social calender and mine, we're real busy!
Fear of failure can be a huge block. Sometimes you have to feel the fear and do it anyway. Yep and not worry about the trouble.
Interesting...I'm going to have to think about this. I used to be more productive when I was busier! Now that I'm an empty nester with no job, I have trouble getting things done! I think it's because I do EVERYTHING myself and I clean too much. My cooking is also very labor-intensive. When I think there will be lots of time to finish something, I never get it done!
I regard quilting as a treat, and so I often feel I have to do other things first before I allow myself to quilt -- really puts a dent in my productivity. I've consciously started to change that, and to allow myself to quilt every day. My husband says I'm happier when I do that, so now I have a good excuse!
I save messy or complicated projects for when my DH goes away on business or a golfing trip. If I get to spread out (quilt project explosion) I can get a lotttt done!
I will have to use that line "I don't have a social calendar" instead of "I don't have a life other than quilting". It sounds more grown up.
blogging is my stumbling block to productivity, but also my motivator, need blogging fodder you know, so it's a double edged sword.
I am very productive when I want to be-that's my story!
So that's your secret! My stumbling block is that I'm lazy.. and like to take too many coffee breaks... and see what everyone else is up to... hehe.
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