Roberta12

This is my favorite and most important scheduling tool: a wall calendar that displays the entire year at a glance, and can be written on with a dry erase pen. I plan out about 2 months worth of days in advance, then stick to my plan as close as possible. It takes an emergency to make me ignore my plan. If I don’t stick to it, I will arrive at shows feeling underprepared, and I hate that! The shorthand you see (1a thru 1d, 2a thru 2d) refers to to-do lists that I keep in a notebook. Each to-do list produces about $1250 worth of pots. So when I apply for and get accepted into a show, before I commit to it I will make sure I have enough days to produce the necessary amount of inventory. If yes, then I will commit to the show and schedule the days of production. This way, I am always fully stocked. But I avoid overstocking myself which I consider wasted energy.
As you can see, I give myself regular days off, usually two in a row but sometimes three. I need these days out of the studio to let my sore muscles recover. Often, one of those off days will be spent working, just not in the studio. This is when I get my computer stuff done (bookkeeping, bill paying, writing blog posts, writing email campaigns, making hang tags, photographing my work, website updates, etc.) So that means I get one day “off” but that’s enough. 

Today 6/26 which is a day off. Tomorrow I start another round of glazing. And then I reach the end of my currently scheduled days. I have a completely unscheduled week 7/1 thru 7/7. Weird feeling! I will probably schedule those days as “video days” because I don’t need more pots for the three shows coming up in July. When I get near the end of my July shows, I will plan out all the days until my three October shows. Then follow the plan. 

I have to organize my organizers, making sure they match:  a studio calendar for clay stuff, an electronic calendar that includes the studio  stuff plus the rest of daily living events, a studio white board with certain contents that "should" (never do) match the wall calendar, a set of electronic folders and files, and the inevitable bright sticky notes scattered throughout, directing me to do my thing before I forget. 
The first  screen shot is a folder with web-ready pics of my catchalls, ready for online insertion. All my photos are in folders by type, with subfiles for web-ready; the second screen shot is my file system. Too bad the file lists can't be read-I was hoping the titles would be helpful. The folders listed far left are my Art Biz, and the subfolder shown is Office and Operations; then the Master Inventory  tracker on the right is a file within that.
Works for me! The photo file name is also  the inventory code which is also the website product or item number, and is written on a piece of tape on the back of the piece. The drawers or bins the pieces are stored in are labled as well.  And, I also save certain CAD pdfs and "how to and tips" from this forum.  It's not OCD, it is organizational survival!!  The only way I can function is by having "A place for everything and everything in it's place", as my dad taught me. That, and the Blessing of the Day that I write on my whiteboard (from various sources). 
If anyone is interesested in the folder names--the categories of information and resource materials for Art Biz-- that I am using to develop my hobby biz, just msg. me.
 
 
my 

Mea, I just love those ears!!!  
r.

On my workbench today ... an experimental bowl with an exaggerated footring/pedestal. How the heck do I fire this thing, on a waster cookie?

Well, I didn't always have a pot belly.

Thanks for posting my question Pres. 
hanging planters for succulents

 

Mea, I just love those ears!!!  
r.