The Puttering Spirit

hanging clean laundry on the clothesline to dry

is the epitome of puttering for me

"You've given me the puttering spirit", he said. "I think I'm going to cut the lawn."

I'm not sure if my husband realized just how much I loved those words, puttering spirit.

~~~

I often struggle with reconciling intention and planned action with intuitive action and letting things unfold.

Sometimes I'm all about goals and to-do lists, working in fast and furious bursts of energy. This gives me momentum and confidence in my ability to set a goal and do what needs to be done to meet it. Knowing I can do it is extremely empowering for me.

Other times I try something different: I putter.

I slow down, ask my Higher Power "What's next?" and I do it. This usually leads to stuff like doing the dishes, folding the laundry, weeding the garden... but it might also lead to writing a blog post, drafting a service description or filing receipts. No matter where it leads it's gentle and spacious and this too is extremely empowering - not to mention often very productive.

It's a dance I'm learning. Sometimes I push, sometimes I let the puttering spirit take over.

The puttering spirit. I love that, don't you? Thank you D.

~~~

Might you allow yourself to putter a little bit today? What would that look like? How would it feel?

Productivity Tool: The Job Aid

I'm a big fan of the job aid.

A job aid is a quick-reference tool you can use to help you with tasks you do regularly, but not quite often enough that you could do them in your sleep.

It's an easily accessible "how-to" that saves you from wasting time trying to remember how you did something the last time. Whether it's in the form of a diagram, a checklist or a single word jotted down on an index card it can make your life a heck of a lot easier.

~~~

Tonight I was getting ready to prep another print for the online shop and couldn't remember the convoluted 5-filename printing system* I'd come up with the last time. I knew the system worked and I knew I'd scribbled it on the back of one of my daily planning cards.

When I found it I created the following job aid so I wouldn't have to flip through all of my cards again:

my friendly guide and reminders to help me not lose any changes

when manipulating images for prints

Now the next time I create prints for the shop all I'll have to do is bring up my checklist and work through the steps. No scratching my head, no re-thinking through the process, no trying to remember where I put my notes.

Easy peasy.

* I came up with this 5-filename system when more than once I had to redo some work after having saved over something I shouldn't have saved over. I am open to suggestions for simplifying it if you have any!

~~~

Is there a task you do regularly, but not often enough to do it in your sleep?

Instead of wasting time trying to remember how you did it the last time each time it comes up, would it be useful to create an easily accessible quick-reference go-to guide?

Stretching Out of Technological Complacency

I'm a paper lover, but this journal/notes app for the iPad may have won me over

A LOVE FOR PAPER AND COLOUR

I love paper. I have five different notebooks on my desk as I type plus a stack of old school index cards I use for everyday planning.

I love coloured pens and have an elaborate system of changing up the colour I use to write my to-do's for the day, cross them off and jot down any other to-do's for the following day. I usually rotate three or four colours through the system, following a specific order that's not to be broken.

I seem to process information better when I write it down by hand vs. capturing it through a keyboard. I haven't been in any rush to adopt any new fandangled technology, smartphones or tablets to help me improve productivity, I haven't seen the need to.

ENTER THE iPAD

Enter the iPad. Hubby surprised me with one for my birthday and thanks to an insightful conversation with a kindred scribbler who's already made the switch, I'm ready to give it a try.

I just need to set myself up for success by:

1. choosing only a few aspects of my current system to experiment with (brainstorming and note-taking, though I may dabble in daily planning) vs. trying to overhaul everything at once,
2. getting the right tools (a fancy schmancy stylus pen and a flexible writing recognition app*), and
3. committing to using them for a given period of time so I can say I've given it an honest try (the next four weeks).

I tried out the tools yesterday for the first time and it was love at first write. I think I actually squealed with delight at the first scribble.

I usually abide by "if it ain't broke then don't fix it", but sometimes experimenting with different ways of doing things can be fun. Sometimes lightly stretching for stretching's sake can be just what we need to shake us out of complacency.

In my case, technological complacency.

* I'm not getting any money by linking to this specific app or stylus pen. They just happened to be the first tools I experimented with and I like them!

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Are there any new tools you'd like to try in your work, but hesitate because it's a stretch out of your normal working habits? What if you experimented with it for a week, two weeks or a month just to see if it fits? Are there any complementary tools or resources that would help make it easier?

Productivity and the Importance of White Space

an example of purple space

Working at home with no one to report to but myself is prompting me to search for optimum - heck I'll settle for sustainable - work patterns that aren't forced on me by a 9-5 work day.

About two weeks ago I gave myself a mental health day: I put my to-do list aside and let my intuition guide my actions for an entire day. I liked it so much I decided to try it for a full week.

What I discovered is the importance of obligation-free time, or white space.

Designers and visual artists know that deliberate white space can make or break a piece. Lo & behold, deliberate white space in one's schedule can make or break productivity too.

In the frenzy and panic around creating revenue I forgot to allow myself time to just be, time to synthesize all I'd taken in and done over the past two months and let it gel.

Last week's deliberate increase in white space allowed time for insights and words to crop up. It generated plans, paintings in progress and service descriptions in the form of journal entries. It created flexibility and flow.

This week my intuition tells me it's time to take action. It's time to take the plans, the works in progress and the journal entries and firm them up into something tangible and complete. I feel rested and ready to do so. Reducing white space in my schedule is as much a deliberate choice as increasing it.

'Tis a fine and tricky line sometimes this quest for optimal sustainable productivity. Luckily if I'm not sure what to do, a gut check is usually all it takes to set me in the right direction.

~~~

How do you create more white space in your schedule? How do you know when it's time to reduce it?

On Setting February Goals...

 

daily planning cards for the month of February

received from Sis, bundled and wrapped in a pretty ribbon

February. A new month to play, a new month to dream, a new month to set goals and make it so.

As I set my own goals I choose to aim high, remaining ever so ambitious and optimistic. I choose to remain flexible, open to new opportunities and changes in the path I so carefully laid out. I choose to be aware and adjust my targets - or completely let go of them - when it's the right thing to do.

You have a brand new month to play with. What do you choose?