We are both amazingly blessed as creatives as well as feeling cursed. We feel so incredibly inspired by everything around us, basically all the time. We have ideas that pop up all the time and that come from every direction. We want to have our hands in so many things and want to turn all of our ideas into profitable business ventures. It is like being on inspiration overload. When you have a variety of skills and want to explore new ideas and projects, everything feels like a possibility even though we want to be more intentional and focused during this year. It can be incredibly challenging to say no to other ideas, find our focus, and prioritize what we want to/need to do because we have all of our different projects.
On top of having the tasks associated with the Creative Business Breakdown, our courses, our classes, and our brick-and-mortar business (Music Therapy Connections), Rachel and I also have our own individual projects outside of our joint ventures. That adds up to at least a half dozen large projects/businesses each and we often feel scattered, especially when we are work from home or in an office with other people where there are other people and tasks vying for our attention. It is incredibly difficult to determine where to put our attention when there are so many different “hats”.
In today’s episode we break down some of the strategies we use when trying to determine where to put our focus and how we set our priorities.
- Having a set meeting time with a set agenda – We got back to the sit down meetings we so enjoy!! Within a shared folder in google drive, Rachel and I keep all of our meeting notes where we keep a running list of all of our ideas, our assigned tasks, and what we need to be working on. Our set meeting time also allows us to check-in and discuss if something needs to be addressed immediately or if it can be tabled for future discussion. Our notes also give us a written document to go back to in the future.
- Trello – Our shared (and individual) trello boards give us a place to brain dump all of the tasks that need to be done. That means not only writing down the BIG tasks, but also breaking them down into smaller checklists that make sense for you.
- Set deadlines – Even if a project doesn’t have an actual required deadline, creating a concrete deadline for yourself and sharing it with someone (i.e. an accountability partner) who will keep you on track can be incredibly helpful in achieving your goals and in a timely manner
- Creating time and space to work – Set aside a set amount of time to actually work on what needs to get done and create a short (3 items max.) list of what you want to accomplish in that time. Be sure to have a space that is free from distractions so you can do your best work.
- Decide what to do with new ideas – New ideas can be a big distraction during your set work time. Do what you need to in order to stay on track. That can mean spending a short amount of time working on your new idea or writing it down and letting the idea sit (on paper) for a while, until you are ready to come back.
- Determine the Pros and Cons of your Project – How is what you are working on or what you want to work on going to benefit your end goal? Ask yourself where you really want to be an where your wants/needs intersect?
- Write it DOWN!!! – I’ve said it dozens of time. Write down what your must get down and check it off as you go. Pull out the 1-3 things that HAVE to get done and decide when to do them.
- Use Your Energy and Motivation When You Have It – Keep your short list handy so that when you have the energy and motivation to tackle a new project, you can go at it with full force!
We tend to have a to-do list that is far too long and tend to have too many projects piled up at once. We are challenging you to eliminate something from your list today and let us know what is working for you.
Until Next Time,
Katey & Rachel