DAY 8 - De-clutter your physical workspace and shipping station
De-clutter:
The creative mind seems to have a particular propensity for clutter. Those creative juices are flowing, we're trying to translate a vision from the mind's eye to the crafter's hands, we just need to check a few more color balances on that new archival paper. And somehow, our space just gets away from us. Today's projects, tomorrow's plans from the new set of materials we brought in yesterday. And so many horizontal surfaces to set it on (and so many vertical surfaces to pin things on!).
STOP THE MADNESS! It's time to declutter, folks. Nothing gets the imagination flowing like a clean, blank slate. Nothing lets you fill orders quicker and more efficiently than a well organized space.
But there's just so much to tackle! Where to start? Refold the pile of fabrics? Put the pens in order by color spectrum? Actually file that pile of receipts?
I suggest we take a page from FlyLady. For more in-depth descriptions of these steps, visit here:
http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/flying-lessons/decluttering-15-minutes/1. Get a timer. We're working in 15 minute increments here. No more, no less. 15 minutes, then do some work on your orders, admining, looking after the dog, whatever. Then another 15 minutes. This is not an all-day-cleaning-with-nothing-else work day. It is also not a procrastinate-until-most-of-the-day-is-gone work day. Anybody can do anything for 15 minutes.
2. 27 things. Go through your work area with a garbage bag and throw 27 things away. Small, large, old eraser cap or new marker that didn't work like it was supposed to. Take it out to your garbage bin immediately.
3. Another 27 things. Grab a box and gather 27 things to donate. Those of us working with textiles know we have several bundles of 27 somethings that could go. Those of you in jewelry, maybe not so much. But aim high, nonetheless.
4. Conquer the Hot Spot - that one area that as soon as you clear it, starts to gather things again. Handle it. Then figure out a way to make it unavailable. Put a pretty decorative something or other there till you break the habit. Or put a receipts and mail organizer there, if that's what collects there.
5. 5 Minute Rescue. Go to your secondary storage area and spend 5 minutes starting to weed through it. 5 minutes ever day until it's nicely organized and you've meshed it seamlessly with your main work area.
6. Designate zones. Now that you've gotten things in place and organized, split your workshop into 4-5 zones. Each week, spend 5-15 minutes in each zone. Every month, you will have managed to deep clean/organize every space within your work space.
SHIPPING
Sit down and actually draw the flowchart of your shipping. From the moment you receive an order to the moment you know your customer has it in hand, what are the steps you take.
Now look at your shipping station. Whether you have a designated table with handy shelves or if there's an old cleaning caddy now filled with Scotch tape, mailing labels, and Moo cards that you keep under your bed till it's time to send things - see if it's orderly and kept in a way that lets you move through your flow chart easily.
Would it help to make a checklist for putting an order together?
are simple things like writing instruments, then tape, then tags, then shipping labels arranged left to right (or right to left) so you can just move across the space to complete a package?
Efficiency matters. We focus on getting our production streamlined and making times down, but then can spend 20-30 minutes trying to figure out where we set the non-fabric scissors, what to use when we've run out of the small cello bags, etc. Organize it and treat it as one more use of your time that must be made as efficient as possible.
Got a system that works great? Give us a few hints on it. Need a hand with ideas? Tell us your sticky areas. Found an amazing picture of the best ever workspace online? let us see it!
