I have a lot of things floating around in my head taking up space, so I went to do a “brain dump” the other day and I realized after staring at a blank sheet of paper for about five minutes… that my brain dump is so huge I almost need to start with the categories of things before I start on the things themselves. Do I have a notebook big enough for that? I mean, I have a lot of empty notebooks. But none of them are the RIGHT notebook. (Pro tip: notebooks won’t fix your brain. Trust me. If they did, my brain wouldn’t be so weird.) My thoughts were like water from a firehose, and I needed them to be more like a water fountain.
It’s a little like this….
Everything
Everything
– work
– personal
– house/property
Everything
– work
— HaldeCraft
— Patreon
– personal
— Physical Health
— Emotional Health
— Adulting
– house/property
— Inside the house
— Outside of the house
Everything
– work
— HaldeCraft
—— Ceramics
—— Soap
—— Yarn
—— Laser engrave/cut
—— Craft shows/Open houses
—— Website design
—— Back-end website management
—— Finances
—— Studio/office rearrangement
—— Videos
—— 2025 seasonal work plan
— Patreon
—— Site design
—— Tier updates
—— Regular blog topics
—— Fiction
—— Rewards
—— Lives/hangouts
– personal
— Physical Health
—— Recovery from Sepsis/Covid
—— Yoga
—— Exercise routine
—— Menus
— Emotional Health
—— Journaling (really just an excuse to get a new notebook, lol)
—— Therapy
—— Spending mosquito-free time in nature
—— Fucking up the Patriarchy
— Adulting
—— Bills/finances
—— Rest of Tim paperwork
—— Finish going through Tim’s/Barbara’s things
—— Finish scanning photos/negatives/slides
– house/property
— Inside the house
—— Deep cleaning
—— Current donation boxes
—— Future donation boxes
—— Bedframe
—— Dining room chairs
—— Painting/wallpapering
— Outside of the house
—— Pollinator gardens
—— Birdfeeder stations
—— Vegetable garden
—— Weeds
Everything
– work
— HaldeCraft
—— Ceramics
———– Plan out what to discontinue
———– Plan out any big releases for 2025
———– Organize new textures and plan out 2025 collection updates
———– Make test tiles
———– Go through stored bisque, make plan for random/old designs
—— Soap
———– Check on fragrance distributors, list what’s available or not
———– Price soap bases
———– Crunch numbers on soap costs vs soap sales
—— Yarn
———– Make plan for rest of new colorways in 2025
———– Make new Ravelry ads
———– Make new club ads/social media
———– New labels? Need new printer first tho
—— Laser engrave/cut
———– Freebie wooden magnets
———– More boxes
———– Wall shelves
———– More coasters
———– More cutting boards
———– 2025 release schedule?
———– Larger machine? (pass-through cutting, higher wattage, larger cut surface)
—— Craft shows/Open houses
———– Open House schedule/plan
———– Arrange studio to accept open house crowd
———– Guest artists? Food? Or just me?
—— Website design
———– New category pictures
———– Category check/redesign
———– Update about page/policies/ etc
———– New header picture
—— Back-end website management
———– Check links
———– Check new theme page designs
———– Make sure format is same on all same pages
———– Shopify sales channel fuckery (Facebook, Insta, Etsy, Pinterest, TikTok)
—————— Where are those shops found
—————— Make sure info is all correct
—————— Make sure imports are all correct
—————— Make sure policies are in place
—————— Format if possible
—— Finances
———– Quarterly sales tax
———– Accounting
———– Inventory system
———– Cost of goods to make vs sales cost
———– Move from Credit Union to Capital One?
—— Studio/office rearrangement
———– Move roll-top desk from house to office
———– Move office desk to main studio
———– Move Laser cutter to main studio
———– Make room for larger laser cutter
———– Research color printer (laser vs inkjet)
—— Videos
———– Find a setup that works and is easy to move around
———– Video lightbox
———– Regular video posting
———– Choose format (landscape vs portrait)
—— 2025 seasonal work plan
———– Any vacation time
———– Monthly vs biweekly shop updates
———– Seasonal lines
———– Factor in Open Houses
— Patreon
—— Site design
———– Tier pictures
———– New header?
—— Tier updates
———– Add laser tier?
———– Check wording
—— Regular blog topics
———– themes
———– days of week
—— Fiction
———– Free Fiction Fridays
———– Open older chapters to public
—— Rewards
———– Plan out quarter of rewards
———– Decide yarn club theme
———– Large quarterly rewards?
—— Lives/hangouts
———– Incorporate Facebook/Insta lives?
———– Change hangout date?
———– Add new/different hangout date/local?
– personal
— Physical Health
—— Recovery from Sepsis/Covid
———– Jesus fuck how long is this gonna take
———– Long Covid can suck it
———– Determine new work schedule based on physical limitations
—— Yoga
———– Determine new routine based on physical limitations
—— Exercise routine
———– Determine new routine based on physical limitations
—— Menus
———– Relearn how to cook for one person
———– I mean it’s been two years
———– I should have it down by now
— Emotional Health
—— Journaling (really just an excuse to get a new notebook, lol)
———– Do the Artist’s Way again?
—— Therapy
———– Nothing to say here, this is actually the only part of my life that’s working really well right now
—— Spending mosquito-free time in nature
———– Hanging citronella things?
———– Tiki torches?
———– Mosquito smoke repellant isn’t cutting it
———– While we’re here, repair or get new pergola lighting
—— Fucking up the Patriarchy
———– VOTE
———– Encourage others to vote
———– Talk back
———– Speak up
———– Amplify other voices
— Adulting
—— Bills/finances
———– This is actually kind of under control, I have a routine
—— Rest of Tim paperwork
———– Take care of the fucking mortgage
———– File the Death Certificate with the State that I should have done two years ago
———– Boxes of stuff in shed
—— Finish going through Tim’s/Barbara’s things
———– Barb’s photos
———– Boxes in living room
———– Boxes in studio
———– Boxes in shed
—— Finish scanning photos/negatives/slides
———– Get new external storage
———– Figure out where external disc readers got to
———– Resort photos
———– New storage system? Wall unit with drawers?
– house/property
— Inside the house
—— Deep cleaning
———– Hire cleaner? One time or regular?
—— Current donation boxes
———– Put in car, take to place
—— Future donation boxes
———– Keep on by door (like now) but put in car when full (unlike now)
—— Bedframe
———– Look at Repurpose
———– Try other used furniture shops
———– Bedroom will need to be rearranged to fit
—— Dining room chairs
———– Look at Repurpose
———– Try other used furniture shops
—— Painting/wallpapering
———– Start in January
———– One room per month?
———– Figure cabinet colors
— Outside of the house
—— Pollinator gardens
———– Weed back yard
———– New flowers for front yard
—— Birdfeeder stations
———– Adjust feeding schedule
———– Clean/toss old gunky feeders
———– Doublecheck pole stability
—— Vegetable garden
———– Fencing
———– Raised beds
———– Research raised bed kits
———– Garden seating
—— Weeds
———– Pull not!daisies
———– Weedkiller on walkway
———– Weedkiller on front steps
……..
See? I told you it was a lot.
It’s a lot . I hope you can find someone to help you with the cleaning and maybe the yard work.
After I get back from England I’m going to look into cleaning companies. I’d look now, but Jeff is going to replace all the carpet in the house with laminate flooring while I’m gone, so there’s no sense in hiring someone until he’s done with that. And yard work, I’m hoping I can get caught up (ahead?) on that during cooler weather when the weeds aren’t growing as fast!
Small batch thoughts on cooking for one. Cooking for one is a PITA . When i fall of the wagon and have a restaurant meal ; REST a YOU is my pneumonic for spelling that ; if i eat in a place ( very rare now) i make sure i don’t have to carry leftovers home . If i have a meal delivered; which equals you getting one to take home ; it’s a meal i can enjoy for two days maybe three. Sometimes i get one that has parts i can parcel out into dressing up other foods. I see it as the part of my food bill that SNAP doesn’t cover ; groceries if that makes sense. If i didn’t think of it this way i’d end up just having a fifty cent bag of chips and half a coke way too often.
Cooking for one is a crock of shit. And I hate leftovers! I don’t like the texture food gets after it’s microwaved, I have broken object permanence and tend to forget about food that’s in the fridge, I don’t like shopping, I don’t like cooking, and I don’t like cleaning the kitchen. I should be able to photosynthesize, like a plant!
And yes; cheese and crackers makes up a good portion of my meals because it’s quick and easy. Ugh.
How long did it take you to come up with that list? It’s impressive. And massive.
Hire the house cleaners. It helps your brain a lot.
Unfortunately it didn’t take me long at all to come up with that list – maybe about an hour to get it all organized. It’s all stuff that’s in my head all the time so I didn’t have to reach really far to find it.
I’m going to look into cleaners when I get back from England, I think.
I also hate left overs. Zhaan for the win.
wow! now I WANT a nap!