My Favorite Way to Organize My Creative Side Hustle Schedule

Staying on track with inventory deadlines and prepping for multiple markets can seem like a daunting task.  But it doesn't have to be.  I had a fellow maker friend show me this tip a few years back and I immediately went and bought a calendar to make it happen.

What to buy/look for:

• A large desk calendar
• has a notes section on the side
• mini post-it notes
• regular sized post-it notes
• highlighters in multiple colors
• favorite pen
• wall safe tape (painter's tape has worked the best for me.  I purchased some "wall-safe" sticky dots and they ruined my sheetrock)

Where to find said items:

• Amazon
• Target
• Home Goods
• Walmart
• Office Supply Store

How to use it:

These are the items I put on my calendar:

• markets I've been accepted to
• in the notes section-products I'll be focusing on making each month prior to market season w/ inventory goals.  I put one product per month to focus on.  For example, say I want product A (20), product B (20) and product C (50).  I put product A in one month, B in the next and C in the next.
• I look ahead to see if I need to order any raw materials to produce the products I'm looking to make for the next month so I have everything on hand ready to go.
• I use my mini sticky notes for my task(s) I should be working on each week to hit my inventory goals so that I can move them around if need be since life happens especially with a creative side hustle.
• I use my regular sticky notes to the side of my wall calendar for markets in 5 columns (you can also use the free ASANA app for this).  I love having this visual to see what is coming up and what I need to be working on months in advance.  Here are the columns I use:
  • All Markets Interested In
  • Applied To Markets
  • Accepted Markets
  • Denied/Waitlisted Markets
  • Backup Markets (incase my 1st choice ones are denied or waitlisted). 

There ya have it!  Now go get your wall calendar and start plugging in the important info we just went over!

If you're looking to further your knowledge in selling your handmade goods at markets, don't forget to grab my free guide here!  I'll walk you through the 5 steps that will help you have more success at your next event.