Or the "lets start this again" version.
Which isn't to say that I've given up on finishing the 2012 version, it's just that I don't want to get so far behind on 2013 that I'm sunk before I start.
This time I've better prepared myself for success taking with me the lessons learned from my first attempt. Instead of getting bogged down on all of the "great ideas" and "must do's" floating around out there in Pinterest-land and elsewhere, I've spent the last week or so being really mindful of what will make this work by really knowing what didn't work last time.
My hang up? Photos - and their development time. I would have to wait to accumulate enough photos to make it worth the effort to sit down on the computer and place an order. There was that wait time combined with the wait time to actually receive the order, then the making time to get them in the album. That made for a lot of wasted time that needed refinement.
My other hang up? Not having a concrete plan. Each week you have to be open enough to go with the flow but at the same time I forgot about keeping a consistent framework. I had no framework. I need framework.
I don't need the stars to align to make a project work, but I couldn't seem to find the time to focus on what was wrong and how to make it right. The easy change would be for me to go 100% digital and be done with it. As appealing as that option is, I don't want to - this is the very last project I have that is tactile: paper and glue and all of those fun things that I love about all things scrapbooky. I love the photos. I love the stories. I miss the chipboard, glitter and the glue.
This is what I've done, so far:
PHOTOS
Even though Fortino's has closed their photo lab and has left only those awful Kodak kiosks, I love that it's so convenient - just across the street. I signed up for photolab.ca and all of my 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 photos will be ordered from there. It takes a maximum of 5 business days for them to be delivered to the store. Better than waiting a month! I will continue to order all 8.5x11 and 12x12 prints from Persnickety Prints. (For sharing online purposes the prints aren't necessary, right?)
FRAMEWORK
By way of my brilliant and organized friend, Monica McNeill, I discovered the perfect Journal/Planner designed by Marcy Penner and available in her shop - for free! I have printed off 52 weeks and expect to use it every day to keep me on track. Since I use only the "A" page protectors for each week of my Project Life that does make things easier. Oh, and I'm a calendar person - a numbered calendar. I made mine, complete with Canadian holidays, over at calendarlabs.com. Combining the planner and the calendar in a binder, and corresponding files on my desktop and in iPhoto, I have everything ready to go.
ACCOUNTABILITY
I'm starting to think "accountable" is going to be my sub-one little word this year! My plan is to publish my Project Life progress here on the blog every other week. I'm not a designer, I am not on any design team nor am I auditioning for one, so there is no reason to put any false pressure on myself. It'll get done as it gets done and shared as it gets shared, but there is a plan and that's what I need. (I am ever so grateful for those who are designers and on design teams as I'm learning a ton and am incredibly inspired!!)
So, what about you? Do you participate in Project Life? What structure have you created to make it successful for you? How do you stay accountable?
