Etsying with Sass

So what makes Rhonda so sassy? I'd say anybody who lives in an old schoolhouse can be as sassy as she wants to be. Yes, she and her husband Mike live in an old school house (along with their cats and a few bats in the belfry). Does that rock or what?

We're back today with part 2 of our interview with Rhonda of Etsy shop LilBitSassy. Today she is sharing her tips on organization & time management.

Family heirloom, Sears Secretary

What is your biggest organizational/time management strength?
What works best for me is deciding what project I'd like to work on for the week and then scheduling my time around that. I usually wake up around 7:30 a.m., do computer work, and then try to start my projects around 9 a.m. I take a lunch break, and then get back to work right after. I try to maintain a regular work schedule--as if I worked outside the home. If I write a schedule out, I'm usually pretty good at sticking to it.

Another thing that works for me is taking one day a week to do prep work. By that I mean cutting out projects and getting them ready to sew. I find this cuts down my actual sewing time and I can get items made much faster. I can also make them in an assembly-line type process, which makes it so much easier and more enjoyable. The sewing is the fun part--the prep work not so much.

Husband, Mike, working on the school house.

Weakness?
Housework. I find it gets in the way of my crafting. Of course, there's the occasional laziness of not wanting to do anything at all, which I try not to give in to, but some days that's just a losing battle.

How do you store your Etsy supplies & stock?
I'm an organizer by nature so I like to keep my stock and shipping items well organized so I don't have to shuffle through things to find what I need. Two years ago, my MIL gave me and old secretarial desk and I refinished it and decided it would work perfectly to store my stock in. For my shipping supplies, I have a seven drawer plastic cart on wheels. I can organize my bags by size and of course all my shipping labels, etc. in it. My dream is to have a sewing/office workspace. Unfortunately, our house is a bit small so that's not possible at this time. But a girl can dream!

Sewing table with view of the bird feeders.

Describe your typical Etsy week.
I try to work at least 15 hours a week, usually Mon-Sun. Most of my work is done on weekends since I usually have to take a day or two off for household chores and errands. Even so, I still try to work at least a couple of hours every day.

Do you feel others respect the fact that you work from home?
I find I tend to get a lot of support from people when they realize that I work from home. I haven't had any bad reactions to my business.

Refinished Secretary--actually, a work in progress!

I also have a blog that I try to keep updated with new projects/items I am working on. Currently, I am having my first giveaway. A lucky winner will receive one of my cat blankies.

http://www.LilBitSassy.blogspot.com

**********************************
If you have an Etsy blog, give us a follow and we will add you to our blog list on our side bar!