It doesn’t make sense. You know what needs doing to get your crochet business moving, but you don’t seem to ever get anything done! You’ve made the to do lists, you’ve got 20 tabs open on your laptop, you’ve got all the productivity tips you can find. And yet, nothing seems to ever get done no matter how many times you find the time to sit at your laptop seemingly ready to get things done. So how can you beat this problem? Let me explain the real reason you’re not getting anything done in your crochet business and what you can do about it.
Your To Do List Isn’t Helping
It feels like a great idea to write a list of everything you have to get done. After all you can just go down the list and tick things off.
Ticking things off a list feels great – that is, as long as you get anything done to tick off.
The thing about having your own crochet business is that there is an endless list of stuff to do.
- Schedule daily social media posts for the next month
- Take new pictures of your crochet and get them edited
- Rewrite that listing for the product that hasn’t sold in months
- Fill out your finance spreadsheet for the last month
- See if there are any good deals on that yarn you need
- Go make a video of how you crochet
- Set up your website
- And the list goes on, and on, and on
You can have a list a million lines long and still find stuff to add to it.
So quickly, that handy to do list turns into an accusation. An overwhelming list of stuff you just never seem to find the time to do. It’s staring you in the face and feeling more and more like Judge, Jury and Executioner. Proof of how you’ve failed to make your crochet business work. Proof that you’re too lazy or too stupid to make it work.
This is not a you problem. You are absolutely capable of making your crochet business become the profitable sales machine that you need. You’re not lazy or stupid – just the opposite actually. What you are is over whelmed and your brain has defaulted to avoidance because it can’t find a way to get around the overwhelm feeling. In it’s effort to protect you, your brain has turned into your saboteur.
This is a normal response. There’s only so much our brains can cope with, and you are far from the only person who is battling to overcome this problem. I’ve been there myself. Recognising the issue is the first step to tackling it.
The Myth Of Motivation
The other thing that is sabotaging you is waiting until you have the energy or motivation to get started.
That’s another common response to that overwhelmingly long to do list. We see that long, long list of items that we need to do for our business and think “I just need to get motivated and then I’ll get started”.
Except when that motivation arrives, suddenly that kitchen counter that is full of junk, and has been for the past 3 months, suddenly needs your attention far more urgently than that business to do list.
There will always be something that feels more urgent when that burst of energy arrives. So again, you’re to do list never gets touched.
What you need is momentum.
Momentum Over Motivation
Momentum means you are already on the move and have gotten something done. Having got something done, it becomes much easier to do something else.
You can create momentum by choosing a small task to get done. Something that you know will only take a couple of minutes and is low effort. You can then take this momentum and start tackling your to do list.
Don’t wait for motivation, don’t sit there staring at that to do list of big chunky tasks. This will just keep you stuck in the same place as you’ll never feel ready or able to tackle your list. Instead make a momentum list – a list of tiny tasks that will give you the momentum to actually get stuff done and finally get your crochet business moving in the right direction.
The Secret To Getting Things Done In Your Crochet Business
Small tasks. That’s the secret.
One small business task to give you momentum will help you finally start crossing things of that overwhelming to do list.
I use this trick myself all the time. On days when I know I have the time, but struggle to find the energy. When life keeps throwing lemons at me and I’d rather do anything but work on my business. These are the times when my tiny task momentum list gets me going and gives me the ability to tackle my big chunky to do list.
Why does this work? Because of instead of presenting my brain with an overwhelming and dizzying amount of stuff to do – so much so that it simply can’t process where to start it shuts down, I give it something small and easy to understand and process.
- Reply to 1 comment on social media
- Write a plan for my next video
- Take a screenshot of my last review
Small tasks with nothing to interpret, will take just a few minutes and is incredibly low effort – but crucially, it’s still useful and business related.
These tiny tasks will build your business over time all by themselves. We cut that time down buy taking the momentum they generate and using it to keep working and go tackle a much bigger task.
By themselves these tiny task look inconsequential, but actually they’re doing a lot of work. Both in your business and in your subconscious. Knowing you’re actually getting something done sends a reward signal into your brain, which then gives you the boost you need to do something else useful to experience that reward again. Brain chemistry is a wonderful, if sometimes frustrating thing. But understanding how our brains work means that we begin to learn how to truly get them working to our advantage.
Get Yourself Unstuck Today
This isn’t another productivity hack that you have to put a big effort into making work. You don’t have to rearrange your schedule or disrupt your daily routine. This is about taking the time you already have and just making a small tweak.
These tiny tasks that give you momentum are nothing special. They’re just small parts of the larger tasks you’re finding too overwhelming to get started. So how do you do that?
Lets take a big task – Create a new Etsy listing. Lets break that down into Tiny Tasks that you can use as momentum starters
- keyword research for the product
- choose a title for the listing
- take pictures of the product
- edit your pictures
- add your logo to the pictures
- list the information that needs to go into the description
- write the story behind the product creation
- create your listing tags
There you go – 8 tiny tasks from one big chunky tasks. Each of these tasks can be used as a momentum maker to get your business day started. You can probably create more tasks for this too if you want to.
Is this taking up too much mental energy? Do you need a place where we can do this for you?
The Nook – Your Momentum Making Space
You don’t have to figure out what that small task is every single day. That’s exactly why I created The Nook — a quiet space that hands you one small thing at a time, keeps the momentum gentle, and makes sure your crochet business keeps moving even on the days when life gets in the way.
Each weekday there will be a post with either a tiny task to get your momentum going, a motivational post or practical tips. All designed to help you turn your crochet business into a success by getting the work done.
You’ve got all the information you need to make your crochet dreams a reality, what you need is a way to put all that learning into practice and actually get the work done.
The Nook is here to do just that. But I don’t want it to be a place that adds more pressure into you, this is about doing what you know you need to do but just need a nudge to get going. A way to stop procrastination taking over, a way to stop that clutter pile that’s 6 months old suddenly needing your undivided attention rather than working on your business.
And if you need help creating tiny tasks that are more specific to your business? Well that’s what the chat is for. Our community chat is for members only and you can use it to connect with other members who are facing the same issues or ask for help. I’ll be there to answer when you need me.
Join now for just $7 a month at our founding members rate. As long as you’re a member you will always have this rate even when it increases in the future.
The Nook is over on Substack which is available as an app or on your browser. Come and join us now here and lets get your crochet business finally moving forward.
