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Keeping Things Moving

I’ve been thinking a lot about making the most of my time and getting things done.  It’s not a surprise, since the beginning of Fall is much more about new beginnings than the New Year’s ever is.

the corkboard of doom, looking bare because
 it was just put together after the cats tore it up.

One of my favorite authors, Seanan McGuire, describes herself as a pumpkin girl – a child of autumn as you will (her letters to the great pumpkin are worth reading).  That resonates strongly with me – for there’s a whole lot of potential in the fall – school (the portal of learning) starting, seeds (which will grow into things) dropping, food ripening and being stored for winters, Halloween (where you can be ANYTHING your brain and creativity can come up with) – there’s so much stored energy in the Fall.

So it makes sense that I’d start looking at how I organize myself and my life.  One of the best tools I use right now to organize my designing is a set of two cork-boards.  They work like this: The first cork board has four categories: calls for proposal, pending proposals, submitted proposals and pending contracts. I try to keep at least two items in each of the first three categories, and hopefully at least one in the fourth.

My other board is my project board. It has: not started, in progress, sent, and pending payment. This helps me keep track of what I need to get done. When I find a call for proposal that fits me, it starts on the first board with date and details, and then hopefully moves to the second board, adding more notes to each piece of paper as it goes. At a glance, I can see what’s in the pipeline and when it’s due.
How do you keep track of tasks that need to get done?  Do you have a planner?  Calendar?  Something else?  I’m looking for a way of organizing when my pattern’s rights revert back to myself, and I’d be interested in any suggestions ya’ll have.