From To Do to Done

I’ve always had a creative mind.

Since I was 10 years old, I knew I wanted to be a writer – although admittedly I wanted to be a world-renowned sports journalist, but there we are, and I’m still living the dream.

I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but I am. If you’d told me even five years ago, let alone 28 years ago, that I’d someday be a business owner I wouldn’t quite believe you. I barely thought it was an option, let alone that I could one day do it myself.

As a creative-minded person, I have to work hard to control my urges to try and do everything at once. For example, I’ve just launched two new services (a Blog Writing Consultation and an Awards Writing Consultation.) I’m also looking to write new writing courses and finish a book, all while keeping up to date with work, cultivating a parenting blog, and a copywriting newsletter, and regularly networking to get my name out there. Not much, eh?

The problem that I and many others have, is what to do first. Here’s what I do to tackle a crazy to-do list and calm my creative mind – before it gets too much, and I end up procrastinating and doing nothing.

Step One – Coffee: I’m a coffee drinker, and I need one before I start tackling a to-do list. Mainly because it gives me a spark of energy, but also so that I can’t use making one as a procrastination tactic further down the line.

Step Two – Make the To-Do List: It sounds obvious, but I make a to-do list on Microsoft To-Do every morning. It’s easy to use, and you can easily move around each task in order of priority, even giving them due dates etc. I know there are numerous other apps around like Asana etc. However, working on my own I only really need a to-do list I can cross things off of. With a list though, you need to make it manageable and realistic. I add a list I know I’m going to finish, because a) it gives you a sense of satisfaction to get it done, and b) you can always add more once it’s all done.

Step Three – Find a way to focus: Whether you use an app where you grow a tree, listen to instrumental ‘café’ jazz, a podcast, or work in silence, find something that works for you and get ready to knuckle down. Personally, if I’m writing something I can’t listen to anything with words in it, so I have to go with classical or jazz instrumental as opposed to a podcast or a playlist – I save those for my admin tasks instead.

Step Four – Think strategically: For me, I like to send emails, post on social media and do the jobs that can ‘work’ in the background first. This then clears my mind for the rest of the tasks on my to-do list, giving me a higher chance of finishing it off. There’s always the concept of ‘eating the frog’ too – taking care of your hardest job first so that everything else seems like a breeze in comparison.

Step Five - Take breaks and reward yourself: Remember to factor in breaks. Not many people can work through a day without taking a break, so make sure you step away from your screen and even factor in a treat (if you’re that way inclined.) For example, I’ll often combine the two, and go for a walk once I’ve done tasks 1-5. More often than not it’s a food reward though, so I’m more likely to say ‘You can have that chocolate in the fridge when you’ve done tasks 1-2.’

So, there you go, an inside account of my creative process. Hopefully, this will help some people to get their creative problems out of the way, or at least manage them in a slightly different way.