Sometimes I surprise even myself

This working at home lark with a toddler in tow isn't easy to figure out and recently I've been getting frustrated at how little time I have to sit at my sewing machine. I miss creating my bags! 

So I've been doing a bit of research about how to pin down exactly what I want to focus on this year for Rose and Lula and how to then get organised with that information. I found these two links really helpful:

• 12 business lessons for 2012
• Balancing work and kids for stay at home parents

After my research I took myself off for a coffee, which already felt like a huge step forward, and that's when the ideas started pouring onto the page.

Source: Katie Blair via Maria's pinterest board

In just an hour (it would seem I am very efficient without the aforementioned toddler in tow) I managed to jot down lots of ideas for new products. I also did a business plan for Rose and Lula, writing down what I want to achieve by this time next year and the things I need to do to go about meeting those objectives. This was a really interesting exercise for me and even helped me see a little bit into 2013! 

Lastly, I had another look at our family's timetable for the week and tried to see where I can carve out some quality time with my sewing machine. This has resulted in sending the small one off to garderie on a different morning so that she can also have lunch there, which she loves so we're both happy.

When I got home I realised I didn't know how to turn my lovely lists into precise goals with deadlines, so my husband who's a project manager came up with a simple post it note system for me. You have a To Do, an In Progress and a Done column and you put your post it notes, colour coded by objective, in the To Do column, urgent ones at the top down to non urgent at the bottom. Then you pick one and work on it, moving it along the columns as and when. I really like the idea of having a Done column so you can see your progress.

Speaking of which, I'm going to try to add time estimates to the post it notes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes etc so that when the children are home and I find myself with a bit of time (haha), I can take a task according to time scale. I am hoping in this way I'll feel like I've accomplished a few more business things in the day.

For the sake of transparency, and so that my real life friends reading this don't think I've turned into someone else, I feel I should point out that:

• I put off filling up the car with petrol this morning only to have urgently find a fuel station this afternoon, worried I would break down with both kids in the car.

• I made a menu plan and shopping list for the week last night and put the shopping bags ready by the front door. Needless to say I promptly managed to leave both them and the list at home this morning.

What can I say, I should be in my own "In Progress" column.