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I may be over complicating this in my head, but I can't come up with an efficient way to use a calendar to keep track of booking orders and scheduling the work throughout the week. I have a regular 9-5 and I'm averaging 2-3 smallish orders a week, I find myself scrounging for time, all the time. I'm wondering if there's a template or even a smartphone app that anyone uses to keep track of their orders. And the guidelines that you use would be so helpful too. Please & Thank you!!!!

Last edited by Julia M. Usher
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Good question! When I had my shop (and even now as I plan out production for photo shoots and such), I do things the old-fashioned way by keeping a very long to-do list on Word. The list encompasses the full year with a daily "explosion" of all the things/prep work I need to do to hit deadlines. When I had my shop, deadlines/order due dates were also tracked in my Quickbooks accounting system so I could print out a shorter list of all that might be due in one week.

Julia's idea is great!  

 

On this end, I use a Hotmail calendar that allows me to see everything going on in my life at one time, so I can balance appointments, kids' events, etc. with my cookie schedule.  I do color coding for events, each child, appointments, etc.  Cookie orders have their own color as well.  When I take an initial order, I block off however many days I will need to work on it from start to finish.  I start with the day that they are due and backtrack from there for drying time, packaging, etc.  For example, for one week in August, part of it is marked, "October - Judy's Birthday Cookies".  This way, when someone asks if I can do cookies the second week in October, I can see how many orders are already scheduled and if I can fit it in with other things going on. As I start to plan for the next month, I break it down by day. For example, ehe next few days are marked as “Flower Thank You’s & School Auction Cookies” and today is specifically - "Bake/Outline/ Flood/RI Transfers".  So, each day shows exactly what I need to do so that I stay on track with proper drying time for detail work, bagging, etc.  It might seem silly to list each step for that day, but it helps me get a quick overview as to what I need to accomplish so I can juggle the 10 a.m. piano appointment and other work that I need to do an not be working on cookies until 2 a.m. as I used to. I then have a separate written list with these things written out the night before with more detail, if needed, as well as other things to accomplish so that I have it right with me in the kitchen so I can mark off as I go and keep track of time. Perhaps a bit overkill, but I find that this works best for me, especially with the generalized overview of orders so I can know if I can take an order or not..

Well, I'm a bit OCD, so I always feel a huge sense of relief once I map everything out. It gives me assurance that I can actually complete the work; otherwise, it can sometimes be easy for me to get overwhelmed and not know where to start. I find breaking it all down into baby steps can really help me get traction, especially on very large projects like the one I am doing now.

Agreed Julia! I haven't had any huge orders yet, the small ones have been challenging enough, I'm confident though, that breaking it up in baby steps will help me learn how to handle the big ones, once they come!

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