Since I retired from digital product design, I have joined many creative teams for other designers. I have enjoyed creating with their products, and supporting the business of designers I believe in.
Recently, I had to step down from a few teams. It wasn’t because I didn’t like their products anymore, or because anything “bad” had happened. Meeting the requirements for all of my teams just wasn’t fitting into my scrapbooking flow.
So just what is flow? It’s hard to explain, really. I think the best way to explain it is that flow is when you can accomplish all you want to accomplish without it being a huge challenge.
When something doesn’t fit the natural order of how you go about getting things done, it’s not part of your flow. Your flow is getting done the things that feel natural or automatic.
How do you find your flow?
It’s easier to look for the things that don’t fit. Are there commitments that you regularly forget to complete? Those tasks aren’t part of your flow. Are there things that you put off doing in favor of doing other tasks? The ones you put off aren’t part of your flow. If you have to really work hard to fit something in your schedule, it probably isn’t part of your flow.
So take a minute, and think about the tasks you have committed to. Do any of them fit into the categories above? If they do, you should probably start eliminating them from your to do list. Sure, it’s difficult to say “I just can’t complete that task any longer” but in the long run you’ll be doing yourself a favor.
When your to do list is filled with tasks that fit your scrapbooking flow it will be easier and more enjoyable to get them done. You will find more time to devote to the things that are part of your flow.
As my mother often told me, “It’s better to be great at a few things, than to be just OK at a lot of things.”
Making these decisions is a pretty big task. I put it off for a long time. Today, I challenge you to take a look at your commitments and really think about what fits into your flow.
How can knowing your scrapbooking flow help you?
Aaron Morris shares his time management tips each month here at Simple Scrapper and on an ongoing basis at his Sir Scrapalot website.
Funny, I just wrote a blog post about the obstacles one has to overcome in scrapbooking to get things done! But, my real job is the thing that is getting in the way of my flow! LOL! I can’t seem to get anything done when I get home from work because there are household things to be done, bills to pay and at the end of the day, I’m just plain tired! I try to attend crops and retreats to get that dedicated scrapping time, but it’s never enough. As always, I’m so far behind and I’m concerned about catching up, but I know that’s the life of a scrapper! I would love to be able to quit my job to create, but that’s not my reality! Scrapping won’t pay the bills and keep the lights on. It’s a hobby and as much as I would love to open a store or work for a designer or paper line, it’s all a pipe dream…till I win the Lotto! I’ve been playing every week now! But, back here on Earth, it’s laundry, full-time job and scrapping when life doesn’t get in the way…
http://californiascrappin-gcinderella.blogspot.com/
Sorry, there’s a typo in my blog address!
http://californiascrappin-gcinderella21.blogspot.com/
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