Free printable planner pages to organize your handmade business
WOO HOO! NEW YEAR, NEW YOU, RIGHT?
RIGHT?
AM I RIGHT?
::holds out hand for high five::
No?
I see.
Listen, I used to be all BLEAH about the new year, too. I'm a public school teacher (still! Yes, I know!), and my life goes from August to the end of May. The calendar turning over in January has always meant very little to me. This year it’s meaningful because it’s no longer 2020. We are all thrilled, right?
But there was a time a while ago, when my business was struggling. It was struggling because I was struggling. I was missing deadlines, and having to email event organizers, begging them to let me apply because I missed a deadline. I had to pay fees because my retail tax payments were late.
I was freaking out a little bit.
I also did not have a handle on social media and posting, or how many YouTube subscribers I had, or how well all of that was working. I felt overwhelmed and put my head in my hands a lot.
A lot.
But as is my habit, learning from mistakes happened, and my heels somehow dug in and I created some systems and a plan. And I got my act together. The two most important things I did were:
Weekly planning
Monthly planning
It seems simple, I know, but I cannot stress enough how freeing it is to have my week planned out in front of me. I know when I'm working, how I'm working, what work I'm doing, and whether or not I will have time for that social activity (hint: I won't. I work a lot.). I also know what I'm going to do the next week, and the next. I can set goals and work toward them. I can schedule social time if I'm working too much (accurate). I can review my goals and if I'm getting closer to achieving them.
It feels good. It calms me. It keeps me on top of things, which makes me feel competent and accomplished.
Since implementing this as a habit, by business has become far more organized. I no longer have late fees for missed deadlines, and don’t have to beg people for forgiveness.
I created planner pages for myself, which are simple and easy to use (I can’t do complicated things, I mean, I am one person). I plan out my month, looking at all dates, marking holidays, birthdays, days I’m doing webinars or anything else of note. I then take it week-by-week, and write out something to do each day. NOT A LOT. Just something. Enough. Every day. This is important—if you are working for yourself, you are ONE PERSON and you need rest in order to do your best. Rest is part of the program. Write it down if you need to!
Please, take these planner pages. I want you to have them! I want you to feel that success that I felt when I finally got some sort of plan and focus. Print them out as often as you like, and use them to take one step toward getting organized. If you are reading this at some time other than January, it doesn’t matter! You can use these pages to plan out your weeks anytime of year.
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