The Persistence of Memory (1931), Salvador Dali.

Well, going back to a 40+ hour work week last week really had a major impact on my art and crafts. I thought I was prepared for it, I really did, but I wasn’t prepared for it at all. Despite my best efforts, I have done very little painting, no sewing, and even went a day without any new original blog posts! As Pink Floyd sings, time is slipping into the future….

As being productive is very important to me, especially in light of the additional plans I’ve been working on, I really needed to whip my prioritization and time management up a notch. To begin with, I needed to determine what my priorities really are. Putting aside family (my children in particular), the priority of project-focused effort goes:

1. Canvas Paintings. Canvas painting goes first because it’s not only my primary product, but it’s also the most relaxing way to spend my time.
2. Web Work. This includes blogging and other web sites that figure into my overall business plan. I put this second as my online networking and promotion is the main thrust of my marketing plan.
3. Sewing. Sewing used to be the heart of my craft business. While it has fallen to the wayside pretty badly with my return to painting, it is still the more profitable side of my business at this point (even if Etsy doesn’t show it). I also have a significant fabric and notions stash to burn through before I think about dropping sewing off my radar or altering it’s focus.
4. Continued Learning and Research. Ordinarily, I’d want to push this higher on the priority list, but until I’ve gotten a firm handle on my time management and am comfortable with my productive output, this is allowed to sink lower. However, it cannot languish down the priority scale for too long lest I become compacent in my ongoing development.
5. Other crafts. While I do other painting for glasswares, do some knitting and so on in an attempt to expand my product and interest base, those really need to be put on hold for now in order to focus on what I expect to generate the most interest and success.

I’m also struggling with how much time I can realistically spend promoting two shops at the moment and in order to cut back on that time, which wasn’t being used very well anyway, I am going to re-consolidate my two Etsy shops under Mindless Pursuits. I’m also going to focus on Mindless Pursuits as a brand instead of trying to have completely separate focuses. That said, I do want Mindless Pursuits to have multiple lines within the brand, but I need to determine the cohesiveness of the brand better.

So there are the first two steps: prioritization at a high level and cutting back on unnecessary expenditures of time. What’s the next step? Determining how much time to set aside for these priorities and ensuring they are accomplished each week. More on this in my next Prioritization post next week!