"How do you find time to make crafts?"
That's a commonly asked question around here. The honest and bottom-line answer to that question is simple… you don’t.
You don’t find time to craft...
You have to MAKE time to craft.
There IS enough time in our day for everything that is important to us.
We all have the same 24 hours in a day that every else has.
And if we feel like there are things we’d like to do but can’t, (I speak for me but I’m guessing I speak for you too,) we need to take a good, long, hard look at how we are spending our time to see if we’re using it to the best of our ability.
A Champion Time Waster
I waste a TON of time during the day.
And I have one main culprit.
Chances are you have the same culprit.
That dang electronic mini-computer we carry around in our pocket… Our phone.
I spend more time than I’d like to admit going down the social media rabbit hole. I look up with glazed eyes and a fuzzy brain, forgetting why I unlocked my phone in the first place.
Those minutes aren’t well used. Those minutes, 99% of the time, are wasted.
And that’s a hard truth to face sometimes.
The Secret to Finding Time to Make Crafts
What's the answer to the question of how you find (make) time to do crafts? You need to make it a priority.
1. Make it a Priority
Creating needs to become a part of your life that you prioritize.
It needs to be something you do BEFORE you scroll aimlessly through Instagram. (My time-suck of choice.)
Crafting needs to be done with intention, otherwise other time-wasting activities will take over any margin left in your day that could be used to work on a project.
2. Find Little Pockets of Time
If your days look anything like mine, there are lots of little pockets of time scattered throughout. These are what Jessica Turner refers to as “fringe hours”.
These are little pockets of time that aren’t used for anything else, and are often in between bigger things on your calendar or schedule.
Waiting for an appointment.
Waiting in the pick up lane at school.
Watching a sports practice.
Waiting for your kid in any way, shape, or form.
Basically any time that you would normally be reaching for your phone to kill time… that is an example of a fringe hour. A small pocket of time that is really an opportunity.
Use that time!
Instead of heading to Instagram, spend ten minutes chipping away at whatever project you are working on.
Instead of surfing the TV guide to see if there’s something good to watch, sew a couple more seams. Knit a few more rows.
Instead of wasting the time mindlessly on something you really won’t feel good about later (have you ever left the social media rabbit hole feeling renewed and energized? I know I have not) - do something you will feel good about.
Ten minutes here and five minutes there add up to a lot of time by the end of the day, week or month.
(PRO TIP: This is where a mobile hobby like embroidery, knitting or crocheting comes in handy because these projects are portable and can go with you! Lots of your "fringe hours" are likely not found at home.)
3. Done is Better Than Perfect
The powerful phrase "Done is better than perfect" by Lara Casey is one of my life mottos, I kid you not. I am type A by nature so it’s often in direct conflict with my personality tendencies. But with crafts in particular, I am a type B crafter.
There’s no perfection in handmade, and it’s a futile and frustrating pursuit to chase it.
Instead, embrace imperfection. Embrace progress. Embrace getting things done.
This is not permission to be sloppy on purpose, although there is a time and place for that too (first drafts, anyone?)...
It’s permission to let go to the rigid self-criticism that often accompanies making things.
Work on your projects. Make things. Craft. And don’t expect things to be perfect.
Revel in making progress. Revel in “done is better than perfect.”
4. Craft and Then Nap
Want to know one of the dilemmas I face every day?
How to spend the precious time in the afternoon when both of my kids take a nap.
I made it my life goal to sync my two kids’ naps so right now, I have this blessed, blissful segment in my afternoon where both kids are asleep at the same time.
Every day, I have the same dilemma:
“What should I do now? Craft? Nap? Craft?? Nap?!?”
(Notice I almost never clean during this time.)
Craft or nap… that is the question.
Do you know what the answer is?
BOTH.
Yes. Both.
When my kids go to sleep, I often work on whatever craft project I’m working on at the moment. Even 10 minutes is progress and it all adds up.
And then, I nap.
It doesn’t need to be all or nothing, unless you want it to be.
It can be both.
Chances are that if you are a mama maker, you’ve found yourself at the receiving end of the question, “How do you find time to make crafts?”
It’s usually said with a mix of bewilderment and sometimes a little sass, followed by people saying things like, “I wish I could make crafts but I’m just too busy.”
It’s true… they are too busy.
But so are you.
We are all busy.
All of us have the exact same number of hours in the day, and all of us have a choice of how we choose to spend that time.
If making things is a priority to you, you need to make time for it.
If you want to craft, even if your life seems packed to the brim, you need to make time for it.
If you want to make progress on the projects you are working on, you need to make time for them.
By utilizing the small pockets of time scattered throughout your day for something more productive than mindless technology, and also adopting the “done is better than perfect” motto, it’s possible to make time to craft, and enjoy the process.
P.S. Did you see the post where my friend Sarah, a working mama of FIVE, talks about how she still makes time to craft? If she can do it, we can too!
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