The Time-Smart Designer: How to Get More Done (and Earn More) With Less Stress
If you’ve ever sat down to “just finish this pattern” and somehow ended up rewriting half of it, answering emails, doom-scrolling Ravelry, and reorganizing your yarn bin… you’re not alone.
Most designers don’t struggle with creativity—they struggle with time.
In Designed to Sell, we talk a lot about building systems that support your business instead of draining it. Time management isn’t about squeezing more tasks into your day—it’s about creating structure so your design business can actually make money instead of constantly demanding more of you.
Here are three Designed to Sell–aligned strategies to help you reclaim your time and increase your income:
1. Work in Cycles, Not Chaos
A profitable design business has rhythm.
Instead of bouncing between sketching, grading, editing, and marketing all in one afternoon, block your tasks into cycles:
Design Cycle: sketching, swatching, writing
Production Cycle: grading, tech editing, sample making
Visibility Cycle: photos, listings, launch content
Sales Cycle: email marketing, updating evergreen funnels, pitching shops
When you batch similar work together, your brain stops switching gears—and your output becomes cleaner, faster, and far less exhausting.
2. Know the Difference Between Money-Makers and Time-Wasters
Not all tasks are equal.
In Designed to Sell, you teach designers to identify what directly leads to income—and what doesn’t. Use the same filter with your time:
High-impact, high-income tasks:
✔ Writing or revising patterns you can sell repeatedly
✔ Emailing your list
✔ Creating or refreshing product listings
✔ Updating older patterns (one update = new sales)
✔ Pitching collaborations or wholesale opportunities
Low-impact tasks:
– Constantly checking messages
– Perfecting graphics that don’t increase sales
– Posting content without a strategy
– Reformatting minor details that only you notice
Time-wasters feel productive but rarely pay you.
High-impact tasks always move your business forward.
3. Build Repeatable Systems So Every Design Isn’t Reinvented
Your future income depends on your ability to create repeatable workflows.
If every pattern requires starting from scratch, you will always feel behind—and your income ceiling will stay low.
Create simple systems like:
A reusable pattern template
A launch checklist
A standard photo shot list
A grading spreadsheet you use every time
A weekly CEO hour for reviews + planning
Systems don’t stifle your creativity—they protect it.
When the busywork runs on autopilot, you have more time (and energy!) to design the patterns your customers want.
Designers Who Manage Their Time Make More Money
The truth is: your talent isn’t the bottleneck.
Your systems are.
When you simplify your workflow and protect your time, you free yourself to:
✨ Release patterns more consistently
✨ Elevate the quality of your work
✨ Build evergreen income
✨ And finally feel like a confident, profitable designer—rather than a frazzled one
Your business doesn’t need more hours.
It needs structure. Purpose. And the boundaries that let your creativity thrive.
If you build those systems?
Your income will follow.
