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My To-Do Lists

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I’ve been traveling even more than usual this spring. And while I love meeting new people and designing events all over the globe, hopping from place to place makes staying on top of everything especially challenging. Whether you find yourself abroad as much as I do or not, I’m sure a lot of you can relate — we’re all probably juggling a little too much!

Since it’s a Monday and that brings the beginning of a fresh week, I’d like to discuss managing a creative but very hectic life. The things on my to-do list can usually be broken down like this:

– Things I need to do to keep up my professional and personal obligations
– Things I want to do
– Things I procrastinate doing
– Things I simply avoid doing (I’m terribly guilty of this one, sometimes!)
– Things I think about doing and overanalyze again and again (and driving myself crazy over!)
– Things I plan to do… someday

Maybe you’re also familiar with some of these categories?

I don’t necessarily have an actual list of the things I’m procrastinating, but they’re always running in the back of my mind. The same goes for all the things I simply avoid doing and the things I overanalyze. I find it helps if I can identify that I’m ignoring a task and figure out why. I still may not do it, but at least I know what’s at the root of the problem!

In general, though, I find that the best way to tackle the long list of things I have to do everyday is by remembering one of my favorite quotes:

“It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin

Collaborating opens you up to other people’s wonderful creativity, efficiency, responsibility, and productivity. I’ve found that life is a whole lot easier when I play on a team rather than trying to play alone. My teams become even more important when I’m traveling. I have my team back in my office in New York City as well as the smaller team I travel with. And then there’s the team who helps run my home while I’m away, and the new teammates I meet on the road who make every event I do possible.

If I wasn’t willing to share my to-do list and lean on — and learn from! — other people, I’d never be able to do what I do or accomplish what I have. I think this is especially true for us artists who are leading creative but very stressful lives and aren’t always as good at management and organization as we are at creating.

Dear Readers, what do your to-do lists look like? Who’s on your team?

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Categories: Blog, business advice, collaborating, organizing tips, Preston Bailey, success, to-do lists, working with a team

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