DHD Blog Hop

Finding Time to Scrapbook

I'm not even going to go off on what a bad blogger I am - Let's just get to the point of this post. You are here as part of a blog hop for Design House Digital and I am glad you stopped by. I have a goodie to share with you if you scroll to the bottom of this post you will find a link to grab a template I created for you. I don't know about you but I LOVE templates. They are one of the greatest tools to help you scrap more quickly. Lately I have not b
een scrapbooking very much and that makes me kind of sad. I thought I'd brainstorm
for a few minutes here with you about ways to find more time to scrapbook. We all know that there are just 24 hours in a day and that we can't really create more time but what we can do is choose how we manage that time. Hopefully, we will spend our time on what matters most. Sometimes there are crises in our lives and that will completely shift how we spend our time. Let's talk about "normal" life though - the regular day in and day out life. Is scrapbooking really important to us? Do we really want to scrapbook? If we do, then we will make time for it.

Schedule: It may require that we actually schedule it into our life routine. Perhaps there is a certain day of the week when we can actually plan on some quiet, down-time where we can get some scrapbooking done. Or does your family have a habit of watching a movie together at home on the weekend? If your family doesn't mind, maybe you can use your laptop to scrapbook while you are all together "watching" a movie. I know that often my family doesn't really choose a movie that appeals to me and so just being with them in the same room to "listen" to the movie rather than actually watch it can often be an option for me. So take a minute to look at your schedule and routines and see if there is a time where it would be natural to do some scrapbooking.

Streamline: Perhaps you really do have a super tight schedule and feel like there is just not enough time to scrapbook. This is when you look at what things in your life are taking up all your time. Is there anything that you can let go of? Is there a way to streamline some of the things that are keeping you from scrapbooking that will then create a window of time for you? See if you can free up some time and then don't let something else claim it. You created this time for your scrapbooking so use it for that!

Stay focused: How many times have you sat down to the computer with every intention of scrapbooking only to loose track of your time and not have any time left to scrapbook? You know the drill - you check your email, look at your Facebook, read a few blogs, do I even dare mention Pinterest? click one hyperlink and then another and before long you have spent all your free time. If you have scheduled this time for scrapbooking, then use it for that and then when you have completed your page or project you can allow yourself to stray from photoshop and check out the goings-on elsewhere on the computer.

Motivation: Maybe what we are lacking is inspiration or creativity and that is what is keeping us from scrapping but then we just blame it on not having the time to do it. If you are like me you don't like to admit that you have lost your MOJO. Sometimes I am able to pull myself out of my funk by joining in a challenge like the ones we have at DHD. Sometimes I will just browse the gallery and find a LO that I like and use it for inspriation. Sometimes all I have to do is browse the shop and see all the great products and then I just can't wait to get started.

Shortcuts: Find ways that make scrapbooking easier for you. Use quick pages or templates. I am giving you a template just for stopping by today and hopefully you will enjoy it. You can pick it up HERE and if you need a password use tiffanyqp

Here is my layout I based my template off of.

Collect your letter for the hop..... Mine is "E"

And if you made it this far reading the post.... Want to win a $5 Gift Certificate to DHD? Leave a comment on this blog post and I will do a drawing Wednesday, March 14. You can share your favorite way to make time for scrapbooking or just say "thanks" for the template or whatever. Winner will be posted and notified Thursday morning, March 15.

Your next stop is the blog of Wendy Betz.

If by chance you missed where the blog hop started go to the DHD site HERE.

Pssst... I may be just a tad ahead of the blog hop so if you don't see the other postings live yet be patient and please check back.