A word or two about time management

In my previous life I was a Small Business Commercial Lines Insurance Underwriter.  I lived and died by my calendar.  I had to know what policies were coming up for renewal and when.  I had to order reports and inspections so I would be prepared for the renewals.  I had to let the agents know what my best price was  (and why) for those renewals, and I often spoke with the insureds to let them know what was going on with their renewals. The agents and insureds often contacted me with their claims (even though I was not in the claims department).  I had to schedule my appointments with clients and agents so as to not interfere with my load of work, and had to work on new business.

My calendar (ie: Franklin Planner) kept me sane and on top of my 'stuff'.

Now, I am trying to home school one special needs child, run a small (very small) business, be a full time child care provider for my adorable grand daughter, run a house, and I'm sure there is more, but it is not written down so I can't remember it! I now carry 4 different calendars.  One for doctor appointments, one for Disney related stuff, one for home school stuff, and one for sewing.  On top of that I have a calendar in my phone that has a brief description of what is going on in my life.

I live by deadlines.  If I do not give myself deadlines, I can't function.  I would just let things pile up and do them all the night before I needed them!  I can always find 'something else' to do if I do not have a deadline.

So, my Snow White Dress had a deadline of mail by today.  Because of that deadline, I made changes to my original design to fit the time constraints.  My construction methods were rushed and hurried.  When something didn't work exactly as planned, I was stressed that I had to not only seam rip, but come up with an alternative.  When I discovered I left off the 'tie' to hold up the overskirt, I didn't have the time to take the skirt completely off, so I had to improvise a method to hold up the skirt.

Now, to the final finished product.

Is it cute? Yes.  Will she like it?  Yes.  Is it recognizable as Snow White? Yes.  Is it perfect? No. Am I proud of it? No.  Would a few more days have made a difference in my last two answers? Yes.  Would it have changed the recipients enjoyment of the dress? No.

While a few more days would have made me proud of the final outcome, it would not have changed the special little girl's enjoyment of the sundress on her Second Wish trip to Disney.  The lesson in all this?  Time Management would have given me a bit more time to make this dress perfect and something I could be proud to put my name on.  Those few extra hours would have made all the difference in the world to me.  But the dress itself is what makes the difference to the new owner.



Nini