Preparing for a Productive Retreat!

Only 18 more days until our crop retreat at the beautiful beach!!! Ten of us will enjoy a great weekend away. We will have fabulous food, great girlfriend time, the opportunity to relax and enjoy the wonderful setting, and also get some scrapbooking done. I can't wait!!! Every year my mom attends quilt camp, which is basically the same concept as a crop retreat. She comes home refreshed and feeling like she got a lot accomplished! Before she goes, she decides on her projects, cuts out all her fabric blocks, and organizes her supplies. When she gets to the retreat, she is focussed on her sewing: getting it done! Do you ever get time away to work on your hobby? Maybe it is not an entire weekend... maybe it's just a night, or an extended day, or even a weekly date with a friend. How can you make that time as productive as possible? I think preparation is the key! Before the retreat, think about your goals for the weekend. How much do you want to accomplish? What project or projects do you want to work on or complete? Do you have a deadline? Are you one to focus on just one project for the entire time, or do you need a few things to work on depending on your mood and energy levels? Ask yourself these questions, and establish your goals. Now that you know your goals, think about what supplies you may need. Go ahead and pull out a tote or box, and start gathering up what you know you will use or may want to include. Think through your projects and make a list of what you still need. This gives you time to order or shop for additional supplies. Do you need to get pictures printed or enlargements made? Do your photos need to be organized? I always prefer to have too much, than to be stranded without something I need! To maximize my scrapbooking time, I love using the Power Layouts technique. This is a way to pre-plan pages so that some of the thinking is done ahead of time. Before my retreat, I have a couple of Power Layouts workshops scheduled so my ladies can come and get ready. Just going through your photos and picking out the ones that will end up on pages helps a lot, too. Any time spent organizing pictures ahead of time gives your mind a chance to start generating ideas, so that when you actually sit down to make pages, you are not starting from scratch. The more you plan and prepare beforehand, the more you will accomplish at the retreat. Your number one goal should be to have a good time and enjoy your getaway! I usually never accomplish as much as I hoped to, but I always come home loving all that I got done!!! What helps you to be productive with your cropping time?