My Project
This month I am working towards building an e-commerce store. My goal is to sell political T-Shirts since it is election season. I intend to use Facebook ads and Instagram influencers to market my product. To create my product, I will use Canva and my supplier will be Printify. Time management is essential to ‘getting things done’ and I will walk through my strategies to complete this specific project.
Use Systems to your Advantage
First things first, you must plan your days. I use google calendar to do this. At the start of each week, I set a broad objective for each day using google calendar. This week, for example, Sunday and Monday were dedicated to designing T-Shirts using Canva. Now, once I set an objective to my google calendar, I then use Trello to plan individual tasks. If you don’t know, Trello is a task management software tool that helps with projects like this one. Once my google calendar is set up I then automate my to-do list by listing specific tasks on Trello. For example, on Sunday I knew I was using Canva to design shirts. On Trello, it said research Canva, learn how to use it, and design your first shirt. So this helps me stay on track with my work and it also holds me accountable.
Do One Thing per Day
Using systems like google calendar and Trello is essential to time management and avoiding procrastination. There is a mantra that helps with procrastinating called Non-Zero Days. This means doing at least one productive activity that will help reach a goal per day. With my E-commerce store, everyday no matter what, I will check my Shopify store to optimize the website. For instance, today I check my site and decided to change the ‘about’ page to make it more personable. As long as I am doing one thing per day, I know I am not wasting time.
Achieve a Good Mindset
Systems definitely help, but if you have the wrong mindset then you aren’t working to your fullest capabilities. I have a long way to go since I’m young, but mental strength is key when getting work done. Always remember the ‘why’. Why am I creating an E-commerce site? I am doing this to create value for myself. I am creating this site so that I can learn about money, business, the economy, etc. I want to get hands-on and learn about business by doing. As I work on my website, I remember I am just learning. The point is not to make sales, the point is to expand my mind to learn about business. The second you let yourself do something just for the ‘grade’ or approval of others the passion leaves and you are left with nothing. Remember why you are working towards something and foster that passion.
Overall, I am content with the progress I’ve made over the course of this month. I’ve designed 6 T-Shirts, found a supplier to create them, and opened up my E-Commerce site. I’ve run an ad on Facebook for 11$ which reached 17,000 people. Next, I will reach out to influencers to post my ad on Instagram. I will then use Loom to screen record my tech tools and systems that I’ve learned. Documenting is just as important as the project.
