I have to say organisation is a hobby, collecting a range of notebooks and planners is just the start. If I had my way, every cupboard in my house would be lined neatly with grey baskets, all holding different things and probably labelled.
In terms of my business, things have got a whole lot better since I acquired my new office, which is in the attic of my flat, along with my bedroom. I am a bit of a messy worker, preferring to spread out and make a mess until the job is done, then get it spotless again. This serves as a kind-of reset for me too in-between projects that helps me get things finished I think.
Right now, I don't have a great deal of stock so keeping track of it is quite easy with all the patterns I have going on right now. I just use shelves and things, I think honestly the most organising and planning goes into time more than anything else.
Although there's nothing better than opening my packaging drawer to pack up an order and be able to see everything I need really clearly, that's definitely worth keeping neat.
Photo by @stilclassics on Unsplash.com
See below some tips I live by to help me stay organised:
1. Calendars are your best friend
For me, my yearly planner on the wall is a lifesaver. I tried to use monthly ones before but found I was getting well into the next month before even turning it over. My yearly calendar has a square for everyday of the year, clearly showing the 5 weekdays and the weekends which is really helpful for quick glances, but most importantly, plenty of room for appointments, meetings and events.
I find a full diary keeps me on track, so scheduling things everyday helps me to stay organised and not get into a slump of doing nothing in the day. So even if I put the gym or something down in a day, at least I know I need to plan around something.
I also think I'm less likely to forget or miss something when literally all it takes is a glance at the wall to confirm, rather than remembering to open up and go through a diary.
2. Highlighters help
I use highlighters to mark different categories of events in planners, and on the calendar, this helps with knowing immediately if I have a work-based day, or a leisure-based day.
I also will use them when crossing off tasks in various stages of completion. For me, making a product such as a makeup bag requires cutting, ironing, adding a zip, sewing up, and a finishing stitch, and when there are several batches of things on the go, sometimes it's easier to mark things off with colours. This again just streamlines the process and makes it easier to visually see what's going on.
3. The Spending Envelopes
This was a new one I learnt recently, I was having trouble keeping track of my invoices month to month, and this is important as I have to report my income. The idea is that you add every receipt or invoice paid this month into a 'July' envelope. If I do anything purely digitally, I keep track of my invoices in my email but write them out on a little bit of paper and put them in that envelope too.
Now I neatly have every month's outgoings together, and know exactly where they all are if I ever wanted to check for something.
Photo by @stilclassics on Unsplash.com
So probably my top three things that I find the most useful when it comes to organising my time, office and business!
