January | 2012 | The New Collector

I bet you thought I might not write an entry this week, and then where would I be in my New Year resolutions? Truthfully, I might not reach my goal of two entries, but that’s because I spent my week working hard to realize my other resolution of improving my workspace.

Next month we will move into our new office on the Danforth. To help us get ready, my amazing dad came into the city and helped me paint the two rooms that I will be sharing with my husband’s consulting company. It was hard work with long hours and nothing but a buzzy iPhone for entertainment. Have you ever heard the hits of ABBA through speakers that look like glowing ice cubes and buzz every four seconds? No? I envy you. Anyway, my dad was such a trooper (not to mention an expert painter) and in the end our efforts really paid off. Check out the space before we got our rollers on it:

Burgundy and orange. Together at last.

Quite the colour pallate for a work space. I’ll admit the orange is somewhat stimulating, even if it burns your retinas. We bought the best darn primer we could (at our local Benjamin Moore store – they were really great help) and got down to work. Here’s my dad mid primer:

Ahh. It’s getting calmer already. The white was tinged green to match our final colour, but we still required two coats of primer.

The view from the door. 1st coat paint on the walls.

Finally, to skip to the good part, we finished two coats primer and two coats paint, had the carpet replaced (by local merchants Citi Flooring – also very helpful), and had the two way mirror replaced with clear glass. The end result? FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS:

Oooooooh. Aaaahhhhh.

Oh yeah. That’s the stuff. Hard to tell from these iPhone pics but the green manages to be calm but cheerful. The carpet is an oatmeal colour with flecks of brown and white. Designer favourite “Cloud White” on the trim. I only remembered to take pics in the evening but during the day the window in the front office floods the space with sunlight.

No words. Should have sent a poet.

My arms still ache and there are some touch ups at the bottom of the trim, but otherwise the office is ready to move into and start using. I’m really looking forward to spending time here. Just goes to show how much difference a little effort (and paint choices) can make!

I’ve been self employed for a number of years. Although I’m getting better at it, staying organized and productive every working day can be a challenge. New distractions are always coming up, and life outside the office can intervene. To put it simply, without discipline and a clear plan of action I can be a great boss but a crappy employee.

Being the New Year, I thought it might be good to take a look at my work habits and see where I can improve. These are my resolutions but I think they can apply to many self-employed people. It doesn’t matter if your business if a full-time affair, or a few hours a week to supplement your day job. I work mostly on my website Collectivator, but I also do administrative, book-keeping and creative contract work for income. These tips are about finding the right balance when you wear many hats. I hope you find them useful 🙂

My 10 Resolutions to Be More Productive, More Organized and Even More Awesome in 2012:

10. Make My Work Space Work Better. The space you work in is very important. I’ve learned that mess on the desk equals mess in my work. Everything from the comfort of my desk chair, ambient light levels, visual clutter and colour of the walls can elevate or depress my mood. It can make me sit down and think “I can do this!” or it can just make me want to start another game of Bejewelled Blitz. This February we’re moving into a new office space, and I resolve to make this space as inviting and organized as I can. Once it’s set up I will dedicate a few minutes after every work session to putting papers away and leaving it clean and inviting for the next use. As Martha Stewart so eloquently said “Don’t agonize, organize!”.

9. Get Regular Exercise. So after I make my workspace clean and organized I’m going to run away from it. I’ve found a small gym nearby and I want to take Yoga and Pilates classes (it hurts my squishy stomach just to type those words) and walk at least 30 minutes a day most days. Sometimes I need to get some fresh air, especially when I’m feeling tense or stressed. If I’m going to sit and not do work, isn’t it better to walk away? As my own boss I can and will allow myself to get moving when I need a break.

8. Limit Email and Facebook Checking. I’ve actually already started doing this and it has made a HUGE difference! Facebook is obviously pretty counter productive from a work standpoint, but I am surprised by how effective it is not to check emails. I can’t imagine how people who have constant messages coming in on their smart phones get any work done! I check my email about 3 times a day and when I’m not actively reading and writing emails the program is closed. It also helps to have a set period of time – say 30 minutes – to answer all the emails at once. I think it has made me more productive both with emails and with other tasks!

7.  Blog with Regularity!* I am a fan of fiction writer Harlan Ellison. One thing, among the many things, that Mr. Ellison rants about are all those people who “want to write” but never actually do. The simple fact is that if you want to be a writer you have to write, and if you want to be a better writer you have to practice. I want to write because it helps organize my thoughts, allows me to express myself creatively, and learn through the research on my subject. I therefore resolve to up this whole blogging enterprise to twice a week.
*Exclamation point for added optimism!

6. Harness the Power of Social Network Marketing. I’ve noticed that roughly every third person who contacts me is a “Social Marketing Expert”. No matter what your business it can be confusing to know how much to tweet, pin, like, post, zipideedo and zort on the internet. This year I’m going to educate myself and explore how every new social networking website might help my business. I am also going to improve my company Twitter feed and Facebook Page. I’ll share some of my experiences, success and failures on social marketing in this blog – two resolution birds with one stone!

5. Stop Trying to Do Everything. When you have a small business you often have to do everything at first. You are the accounting, customer service, and advertising departments, as well as the CEO. I’m lucky because with Collectivator I’ve always had partners, but I’ve also wanted to keep control of all the day to day operations. With a little realistic assessment of my abilities I see it is imperative that I learn to delegate to others. I need to better rely on the partners I have and seek out experts in areas where I know little or are unwilling to learn. I resolve to improve my strongest skills, while at the same time allow others to help the company in their areas of expertise.

4. Set daily, weekly and monthly goals. For monthly reminders my computer’s calendar program is great. For my changing “to do” lists, however, I know that I am a Luddite who needs to put pen to paper. I have a new weekly paper calendar with a cat motif that is embarrassing to look at but surprisingly effective for my work habits if I keep it up. Among the cat related quotes I basically write my to do lists, appointments, and all the stuff I want to accomplish each day to meet my goals. You might be cool enough to use your iPad, but I enjoy my work mixed with photographs of kittens emerging from various containers.

3. Set a Big Goal and Work Backwards. When you have big dreams sometimes it can be the sheer enormity of the goal that derails your confidence and productivity. I’ve read that good advice is to work backwards and finish small tasks that eventually lead to your larger goal. You don’t have to know every step towards your goal – just the next one on the path. I resolve to take each small step while keeping the big goal firmly in mind. I will tackle my dream goals as small steps with deadlines and in that way stay motivated.

2. Follow my Passions and Be True to Myself. Dear Lord that sounded very “special workshop at the Yoga retreat” didn’t it? Sorry. I mean to say that I started Collectivator, this blog, and my own growing collection of antiques because I have a true and honest interest in them. I like that I know about this stuff and I want to learn more and promote antiques in general. I’m going to refocus my energy  on that, and keep it positive. There’s a good reason why I’m self-employed and that’s because I like it.

1. Prioritize Prioritize Prioritize. There are so many things I do for work and I like being creative. I like to be inspired by others and that requires lots of clicking around on the internet, reading, and general wayward thinking. I resolve to allow myself this freedom but to also prioritize my work hours for income activities first. Every business has a bottom line and it is imperative that I remember to prioritize my time. If I can make this resolution a hard and fast rule, I know every element of my business will improve, and I will feel great about my work day.

So there are my resolutions to improve organization and productivity. I know I’ll have off days and I won’t do everything right. If I have to I’ll just walk away from the desk, make some tea, and try again after a break. There’s always room for improvement and I am always interested in what works for other self employed people, so please share any tips or comments!

Happy New Year! I hope 2012 is treating you well so far. Back at work and all that. So you may have noticed that my epic quest to write exhaustively about my vintage Christmas was a little thin in execution. I am still pretty happy with what I managed to write, but perhaps the lesson for next time is not to commit to blogging at the busiest time of the year. Or maybe the lesson is learn how to write faster and with greater discipline. If the lesson is to watch all 8 Harry Potter films and eat gingerbread cookies for a week then I’m pretty solid.

Anyway, this Christmas I was very blessed in the gift department. I received many nerdy toys like Nintendo Wii games and this crazy future alarm clock that promises to make waking up a glowing and bird call filled experience. I also received a few pieces of really amazing vintage folk art. My parents are folk art dealers so it’s not unusual to benefit from their knowledge and collections. Sill, I was really touched by their generosity. One piece I received was a miniature horse head by noted Ontario artist Albert Hoto:

This amazingly detailed horse head is from the Hoto family collection, and dated from about 1960. I just love the character and grace Hoto was able to achieve in such a small piece of carved and painted wood. Albert Hoto lived and worked on a farm, so I would like to think this tiny plaque is a testament to a particularly helpful and prized farm horse.

It may be difficult to tell from the photographs, but the piece is only about 5″ tall. Check it out next to a standard mechanical pencil:

Pretty great, right? Hoto started his creative work after retiring from farm life because he was bored and wanted something to pass the time. In his retirement years he created many wonderful small carvings that earned him prizes and praise from collectors. You can read more about Albert Hoto on my dad’s blog Shadfly Guy. His recent posts about Hoto include a short biography, the transcript of a 1953 newspaper article about Hoto, and a newspaper photograph of his work. Albert Hoto was a truly talented folk artist and I am so happy to have one of his pieces in our collection.