Effectively Organized: Finishing up my master bedroom

I've had this post sitting in my queue for a few weeks and it's time to publish it. I took pictures of my bedroom now that it's "together" to a certain extent, but I'm learning some design principles as I go. I'm trying to keep things modest, and everything I have in this room (except for my mattresses) is second-hand, stuff from mom's overflow, Craig's list, a piece is from my childhood bedroom set repainted, or a thrift store. 

Since I did this post, I've already moved things around. I have a new dresser in place and moved this pretty dresser I painted to the upstairs office to serve as a printer stand and house office supplies. I've cleaned up my office in stages and now the office is finally in photo-worthy. (I'm not embarrassed to have it in pictures.)

I like how it's coming together, but it still felt "off" to me until I realized the scale is off for the room. I have 10-foot ceilings and tall windows and I'm using furniture designed for a regular, smaller room. I'm sure any designers following this blog might be cringing... I'm learning! I like the headboard for now, but eventually, I'd like to get a white farmhouse bed. I'm tempted to tackle Ana White's Farm House Bed as a learning project. Maybe sometime in 2016. 

I really love the bohemian vibe in this room. I've swapped out the lampshades for some plain white ones as it was getting too much blue in here. The dresser on the right side of the bed is from my childhood bedroom set. I sanded this down to get a natural color top (with remnants of the original deep evergreen stain) and painted the bottom a shade called Charleston blue. I'm using multiple shades of blue in my room to mimic the multiples shades of blue, aqua, turquoise you find in water.

So, I was happy with these photos and just wanted to publish even though things have already changed. :-)

Effectively Focused: 2 - Categorize

Previous Post - 1: Capture - write everything down

Principle #2: Categorize 

You will probably be circling a bit between #2 Categorize and #3 Summarize as you figure out how to organize the information you just captured. I encourage the categorizing first as when you summarize you will also be color-coding what you categorized if you are using the Sticky Note PM posters, project book, or stickies. 

Once you have a good chunk of stickies and have emptied your brain of the clutter of things you need to accomplish, the next pass is to group and categorize the items. Don't feel obligated to use every single column. Once you start getting organized, it's easy to go overboard and try to categorize and group into many many groups. Gentle reminder: simplicity should be a mantra as you work through your processes. There are two recommendations I give when grouping:

• Don't create too many categories. Keep it as simple as possible.
• Leave some open columns. This allows yourself some flexibility if you have to break groups out into smaller groups. 

The Backlog

This list you have captured and are now organizing is known as a Backlog. The project in this post is my "Energy Drain List," which is basically a list of projects and household things I need to do to make my home as homey, organized, and tidy as possible. It's a big project.  This is this project's Backlog. Below is the first pass at broad strokes of categorizing. The project is "Energy Drain" which is titled on the left side. I've been using Marie Kondo's methods of streamlining and organizing my home and studio from her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. (Details on what I love about her methods in a future post.) I roughly grouped the work into these four categories:

• Personal KonMari
• KGS KonMari
• House Projects
• Cleaning

Backlog - Wall Poster

Backlog - Project Book

A sample of a single category of the Backlog in the Project book.

Color-Coding

Once you are satisfied with your groupings, you can go to the next step of aligning the groups into a color. I'm a little OCD with my tasks and like neat (but flexible!) lists. I've already written things down on the color-coded stickies, but you may want to hold off (or not) until you've gone through  Principle #3: Summarize.

Here is the color-coded version:

More Grouping

Normally I would recommend stopping with the above color-coded version of this project. However, the beauty of this system is the flexibility and doing what makes sense to you. In my case, I want to put a deadline on the majority of these tasks. There was a grouping of tasks under House Projects that required a significant investment of time and I wouldn't be able to finish them by the target date. So, I separated the House Projects and created a group called Maintenance. 

Don't feel committed to the categories you create. I change the categories as much as I need to in order to feel comfortable which will be covered Principle #7: Flexibility. Adapting to change is another core principle of this framework. Keep tweaking things until YOU feel totally comfortable. The categorizing can feel challenging, but just remember: keep it simple.  Don't get overzealous with breaking things down into tiny categories.

P.S. - The Backlog posters and Project Books with coordinating stickies are available in the Shop.

Next Post - Principle 3: Summarize - summarize by the end result (not the action / verb)

Table of Contents for the Sticky Note PM Program

Effectively Focused: 1 - Capture

Previous post - Introduction - Sticky Note PM

Principle #1: Capture 

Begin Capturing Your Ideas

How do you capture your ideas now? Do you write in your journal? Do you use lists? Do your dreams meander in your mind? Do you use your lists on your smart phone or some other technology? 

Capture Your Ideas

It is as simple as a sticky note. Really. (I've managed multi-million dollar corporate projects with stickies!) One of the first important things is to get every single idea you have swimming in your head, captured in lists, written in journals, jotted on napkins...capture everything on a sticky note. For the process of capturing, use plain sticky notes (they're cheaper). 

Why a Sticky Note? 

There is incredible flexibility with sticky notes. You can move sticky notes around with wild abandon as you collect your ideas. Also, when you change your mind and ideas grow and morph into better ideas, a sticky adapts very easily. If you have a mix of "organized" and "chaos" that works with you, you can still move your sticky notes around with easy adaptation but keep them in neat little lists. The flexibility will be addressed later in the program, but in all my research on tools, I keep coming back to sticky notes as the best tool for flexibility.

Why everything? 

Free your mind to focus on the development of the idea. Don't waste time trying to remember your ideas. Write it down. Let it marinate. Let new ideas happen and write them down, too. 

“In order for your mind to let go of the lower-level task of trying to hang on to everything, you have to know that you have truly captured everything that might represent something you have to do, and that at some point in the near future you will process and review all of it.” - Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, David Allen, Penguin Books, 2001

Go wild! Write everything you can think of. When I finally unleashed my creativity and declared myself an artist, a Creative Mindstorm drenched my mind with ideas. I am still that way only now I capture every idea I possibly can. Create one sticky note per major item. The major exercise right now is “decluttering your brain” and get it out into some tangible form. 

What Should I Write Down?

I use this system for everything I need to do: personal/home projects, my art business, sub-projects in my art business, and my day job. So, when I say write everything down, I mean, write everything down. 

Keep it High Level, Focus on the End Result, not the Actions

As for the details that you want to capture, this will be expanded on in more detail in future principles of "Tell the Story" and "Plan and Prioritize." But, to save you a little effort, don't write down every single task. This is too much detail for right now  We just want to capture high level concepts and high level projects. 

Keep it Handy

Keep your sticky notes or at least your journal near you at all times. Write as much as you can. Everything. Little things. Big things. Crazy things. You can toss some of your ideas if you don't like them, but I don't recommend that just yet. Hang on to everything.  You never know when a discarded idea might lead to the spark of something great.

Yes, Even Your Crazy Ideas

There is no such thing as a bad idea. When we brainstorm as teams, crazy ideas often spark conversations that light up ideas that are more realistic. Even the crazy idea might be a reality at some point in time, even if there are things that make it less realistic in the here and now. The beauty of keeping things in your head is that no one can make fun of your idea. But, you never know what might happen when you share it. Yes, you might feel a little foolish for putting it out there, but wacky ideas often are the spark for the really, really good ideas.

Where Should You Keep Everything?

Everything is fair game. You can create your own Kanban boards, Kanban project books, or you can find one of the many tools that support the process digitally like Trello, Asana, Rally, or VersionOne. In addition, I have designed fun, coordinated products in my Sticky Note PM collection. You can find a  Project Book or Backlog and coordinated Sticky Notes over in my shop.

The Backlog

This collection of ideas you have captured is called a Backlog. If you are familiar with the Agile concepts, you might recognize this term. To be consistent, I use this terminology in this process as well.

Your Project Book or Project Wall

Collect your ideas in a central location, in a Project Book or Project Wall. It can be a book, a journal, or a piece of wall art. If you create your own book, I recommend heat-laminated pages to make it easier for the notes to stick. (I tried a cold-laminating system and notes just slid off the page.) If you are using a wall system, I recommend putting an attractive poster or wrapping paper into a poster frame under plexiglass or glass. The glass/plexiglass is a good place to adhere the sticky notes.

Next Post - Principle 2: Categorize - group like items together

Table of Contents for the Sticky Note PM Program

Effectively Focused: Introduction - Sticky Note PM

Sticky Note Project & Task Management

Personal Kanban / Family Kanban

What? Sticky Note Project & Task Management - the intentional, organized approach to using sticky notes to manage projects and tasks.

Who?

• If you’re known as a Sticky Note King/Queen and you want to get a little more intentional with how you use sticky notes, this course might be for you.
• If you want task management to be visible in your home.
• If you are interested in blending the system with your home decor.
• If you prefer analog project/task management over digital management.
• Geared toward individuals and families / small teams located in the same work / home space.
• Virtual school assignment management.

Who is this not for?

• Those who are very satisfied with their current system.
• Those who want a completely digital management system.

The source of the framework being introduced: The grouping of frameworks is called Agile and sprung up around the challenges related to the conceptual work of software development. The main system that is currently in vogue is called Scrum (http://scrumguides.org), developed by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland in the late 1990’s. Another version that is gaining in popularity is Kanban developed by David Anderson (http://www.djaa.com). I use a mix of these two systems in my day job as a project manager for software development teams. 

Technically, the inventors of the system eschew the term, “methodology” and to a certain degree, I understand where they are coming from. Methodology implies a heavy-handed, rigid, “you-must-do-something-a-specific-way.” They prefer to refer to this approach as a framework that allows each team and individual a lot of flexibility in their approach to managing their projects and tasks in a way that makes the most sense for them. Because it’s a framework, there is a lot of room for adaptation and customization. Every single person will use the system differently and uniquely for their needs, the way they learn, and the way they categorize. There is no right way! There are core aspects that you should strive to achieve, but the rest is up to you.

Where? Free blog e-course

When? Wednesdays

Why? In spite of all the advances in technology and being a dedicated sampler of time and task management systems, I keep reverting to sticky notes. I learned complex tools like Microsoft Project, less complex tools like the task list offered on my iPhone and I keep coming back to sticky notes.

It isn’t like I haven’t tried to be all digital. I have. What I have found with work that has been termed “knowledge work,” sticky notes provide a mental and visual balance to conceptual work. The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” applies perfectly. If I see it, I remember it and am more likely to complete it. When I started diving into the subject of project management and applying it in my professional life, I discovered a methodology that actually embraced the lowly sticky note for large, multi-million dollar corporate projects. I was hooked. I do still balance my sticky notes with digital tools, but for managing my day-to-day work and keep a big visual picture, I lean on my trusty sticky notes.

Making the system attractive: The other “why” behind this project has been an effort at making the sticky notes attractive enough to live in my home as a piece of art. Using sterile sticky notes at the office is fine. Using them at home raised eyebrows, so I sought to make the sticky notes and Kanban boards attractive with the ability to integrate into home decor. Lastly, I wanted to make this method portable, so I made a project book that mirrors my project board. You can use one or the other, or both if if you prefer, like I do.

Kanban Book: My niece's virtual classes. This allows her parents to see how much work she has without having to log in and provides a simple, visual accountability system that narrows her focus. 

Kanban Book: My personal system that I use to manage my art business in the Beach Brights colors

This program is going to introduce you to the basics of the system I use and the accompanying wall and book tracking systems.

Kanban Wall System: Product backlog - the "Big List"of stuff I need to accomplish for Kanna Glass Studios

Kanban Wall System: Kanban Progress Board - a queue of work that needs to be accomplished this week, prioritized.
Four columns are Queue, Blocked, In Progress, Complete.

Next Post - Principle 1: Capture - write everything down

Table of Contents for the Sticky Note PM Program

Effectively Organized: Challenges of the Business of Creativity

There has been much discussion over the right side of the brain being creative and the left side being analytical. I just read somewhere about recent studies showing that there really isn't a divide. Whatever. In my world, Creativity and Analysis live very different lives.

Analysis is the preferred skillset in the business world. Creativity is welcomed, but only within a 9-5 business mentality. The thing is. Creativity doesn't live from 9-5. It’s 24x7. My creativity simmers. Percolates. Strikes in blinding flashes of lightning. And for me, the soaking rainstorm of creative productivity happens between 8 pm and midnight. Some creativity might go to work from 9-5, but drowning in a sea of “must-do’s,” it has very little time to make an appearance. Even if it had time to muse and meander from 9-5, I think most creativity lives outside of the structured box as the factors that influence creativity and innovation can be triggered by anything in our life.

I’ve just given Creativity free reign during my creatively productive hours. It serves many purposes: to turn my brain off to a stressful day, to keep the focus off the pain of a migraine, and just simply for the joy of creating. But now that the artist has been unleashed, I can turn my hobby business into a more active small business. Even as a hobby-business, it still needed the analytical side to manage mundane things like expenses and income.

Now the trick is to get my Inner Artist and Inner Analyst to play nicely together and have fun. I mean, it’s my business. I don’t have to banish Creativity when the business of Business is front and center. Why can’t I figure out a way to make the onerous tasks more enjoyable? Like bookkeeping. (Ugh.) Or filing. (Almost as bad.) I know other people don’t mind these particular tasks as much as me. I think I mind them because I dislike routine. I also hate balancing checkbooks…unless I have software to do that for me.

So, I’m going to resurrect my newsletter in the next few months, reconfigure my website, and develop a series of articles about making the mechanics of my business more streamlined, less intimidating, less annoying. My real life experiences as a girl geek project manager has de-mystified a lot of business processes for me or at least made them less intimidating (like reading a contract, researching copyright or intellectual property, organizing my workday). If possible, I want to find ways to make myself more willing to engage in the parts I really don’t like (bookkeeping, filing) and even inspiring, pretty, or fun. Creative Self, meet Analytical Self. Play nice.



And for a little "Cotton" eye candy...

Harvest Time

Reminiscent of a wagon trailing bolls of cotton, this necklace is for the woman who enjoys the rustic rambling of various materials comprised of the necklace and earrings.

Necklace: Copper and Argentium Silver (.925) strung on cords of suede and festooned with hand-made glass beads.

Earrings: Argentium Silver (.925), Copper Washer and hand-made glass beads. 1.25”

I am working on developing a permanent Cotton Inspired line of jewelry designed to be souvenirs of the South Carolina Cotton Trail. I haven't decided which pieces will be part of the permanent collection or if I'll continuously re-invent a collection for a season. I'm still figuring this part out.

Effectively Focused: Project Management for the Small Business

I'm back! (I think.) I've learned during my second year in Hong Kong that July-August is going to be busy. I have visitors, my entire creative routine is disrupted, so I'm going to try something new and just go with the flow. I will most likely be MIA during the summers if this pattern continues. I'm hoping to return to regular posting soon.

On another note, I've been mulling this little project in my head for a long time. My day job is as a project manager and project management really touches (or has the opportunity) to touch many parts of a business. It can touch on budget, contracts, schedules, supplies, to name a few things relevant to a small business.

My qualificiations? I have my Project Management Professional certification and Certified Scrummaster certification. The PMP certification creates a common language when it comes to talking about projects (it does not give you a step-by-step plan on how to do a project). The Certified Scrummaster gives you training in a specific way to do a project. In general, I like this method because it embraces simplicity. However, I view both certifications as a "bag of tools" that I can use depending on the situation. I have used bits and pieces from both schools of thought depending on the project.

I've been struggling with this series because I didn't know where to start. I remember being a rookie project manager and wanting the "magic ingredient" about where to start. Heh. No magic ingredient. Just persistence and hard work. Why do I think this is relevant to a small business? When I was first self-employed about 17-18 years ago, I was overwhelmed with making sure I did everything right like contracts and reporting taxes. I think my PM experience has given me the broadest look across a business that I've found helpful to me. I know there are several other blogs that have business advice and I highly recommend them. Most are on my blog roll to the left. I will specifically point them out in a future post. My view is looking at your business as small projects. I'm not sure how regularly I'll post on PM ideas, but I'll try to share things I'm using and finding useful.

While there is no magic ingredient for managing your small business, I will say there are two concepts that can help make your life easier:

1. Keep it simple
2. Expect everything to change

Keep it simple. Don't go overboard writing every little thing down, unless that's what you need to do to remember something. And use Post-It notes. You might even want to take stock out in 3M (kidding...sort of). After all this work I put into learning "methods" and "tools" for project management, the Certified Scrummaster training took me back to simplicity. And it makes so much sense. The first class I took, we just used post-its for planning our projects. Of course, when the projects got large enough, we switched to software for tracking, but in the humble beginnings, Post-It notes are sufficient and maybe all you'll ever need. Why?

Expect everything to change. I fell into project management because I have a natural inclination toward organization and planning and then following through on the plan. The pitfall for me was realizing that plans are subject to change. A LOT. Your starting plan will look nothing like your finished plan. Oh, yes. You can learn from each project you do, but every one is unique. It was so frustrating to have a nice, pretty plan...only have to it wrecked by someone who forgot something, or changed something, or something got delayed, or...well, you get the picture. Post-Its are fabulous because you can move things around and it doesn't ruin the pretty picture.

Style Whiplash

In other news, I have been working a lot in polymer clay and my style has changed so drastically, I think it will give you whiplash. However, I've been experimenting with things I can find at the local art store and I found pearlized inks...below are my first experiments with small beads in the copper and silver inks over various colors. Purty, ain't it?

Then, I've finally figured out how to eliminate the whiplash by being more conservative and working in smaller beads. Sorry for the low light, but these are small beads (about 8-9mm) in mottled, earthy red that pairs nicely with antiqued brass findings and copper beads.

Stuff I Find Amusing in Hong Kong

Bumblebee socks anyone? I think this is the uniform of a messenger service because he came with a matching shirt.

As opposed to Ugly Wallpaper? Is there a store for the Ugly stuff?

Okay...that's it for today. Happy creating, y'all! ZaiJian for now.