Multi-Tasking

Last week I gave tips on how I make the most of my time and shared a few time-saving tips. One of the biggest things that saves me time is multi-tasking. I'm hardly ever doing one thing at a time! So today I thought I'd share some things I do to multi-task successfully. *I will send several items to my printer to be printed at once and I'll work on something else while the printer does it's job. *I also do this with my laser engraver. It has to be supervised, so I need to stay in the room. But some jobs take quite a while...so I use this time to work on other projects while it runs. *My internet can be slow sometimes and take a while for something to download. I read emails and catch up on blogs while my file loads. *We eat a lot of casseroles! Once the food is ready to go in the oven, I usually have about 30-45 min. before lunch is actually ready. I use this time to continue working on projects. (Or clean the house!) *I'm guilty of working while talking on the phone too. I need a headset so my poor neck doesn't get a cramp!

How do you multi-task? Leave a comment and share your tips with us all!

Creative Time-Saving Tips

Last week I told you how crazy my schedule is and how backwards it is from "normal" life. Today I thought I'd share a few tips on making the most of your time and getting more done :)

*Make to-do lists! I do these on daily and weekly schedules. I make a list each day before I leave work of everything I need to get done that day. I also make a weekly list of things that I want to get done if I have time after all the things that need to get done.

*This ties in with writing things down. I have to write everything down or I'll forget it! Carry a notebook everywhere you go so when an idea strikes...you'll never forget :)

*Stay Organized! I know this is easier said than done. But it will save you time in the end making it easier to find things later and making it easier to work on new projects :)

*Schedule your time! The computer can be a real time-sucker! I get caught browsing the internet when I should be creating! Set a timer for 15 or 30 minutes (whatever works for you). When the timer goes off...get off the computer. Then allow yourself time later to finish what you didn't get done.

*Break your tasks into 15 minute sections. If you wait for a large span of time to get things done...you'll never get to it!

Here are some ideas:

**Set out supplies for your next project

**Write descriptions or edit photos (this doesn't have to be done all at once...break it up)

**Clean your work area

*Multi-task! I don't ever do one thing at a time (it's a personal problem...LOL!) But I can get more done when I multi-task. I'll have a new post next week showing you ways you can successfully multi-task :)

What time-saving tips do you have? I'd love to hear them :)

Multi-Photo Layouts

Some things I hear a lot of scrappers complain about is never being caught up and wanting to scrap all of their photos of an event. Well, if you're like me and take about 100 photos of every major event and at least 50 of the not so major events, scrapping all of these photos can be quite difficult. My solution...multi-photo layouts! I hardly ever scrap just one photo on a page unless it is a really important photo...or I'm just in the mood to play. Multi-photo layouts help you get a lot of photo scrapped in a small amount of space. Just look at the layouts here. I fit a whopping 10 photos on this layout and still had room for a large journaling area. The key here is to use a grid format. I printed two larger photos at 4x6 and then formatted all the rest to be 3" tall with varying widths for variety. I like this multi-photo layout because of all the white space I was still able to leave. I fit 8 photos on one 12x12 layout and still leave room for the eye to rest. ( It is hard to tell here, but there is about a 1" border around the outside of the red frame.) This one is a combination of photos and embellishments in a grid. I fit 8 photos on the front as well as journaling and the main photo in the middle opens up to show three more photos underneath. This layout has by far the most pictures on it than any other layout I've done. I'm proud to say that I fit 26...that's right, count 'em...26 photos on this two page spread! I kept the embellishments to a minimum and used one photo as the main focus to keep this page from being too busy. So next time you find yourself with a pile of photos to scrap and little time to do it in...think multi-photo layouts! You will be happy you did :)