PCH Pick Me Ups: Tick Things Off Your To-Do List

If you’ve been practising social distancing, you may have found yourself with a lot of extra time on your hands. If that’s the case, why not take this time to tick things off your to-do list?

To help you get the ball rolling, we’ve come up with a few ways that creative people can spend their time more productively while self-isolating.

Get organised

No matter your profession, organisation is the key to staying productive. Therefore, before you embark on any creative ventures, we suggest you take some time to get organised so that you can approach any upcoming tasks with a clear mind.

De-clutter your creative space. Having a messy workspace can make concentrating nearly impossible. If you’re noticing a lot of clutter in the area where you create, spend a few minutes clearing it away.

Curate your toolkit. This can mean throwing away things that you don’t need, developing a more effective storage system or taking better care of your equipment.

Plan ahead. Things probably feel a bit uncertain right now, so you may find it helpful to write things down. If your major projects have been affected by current events, try setting some small, achievable daily or weekly goals to keep you feeling motivated.

Update your portfolio or website

If you’re a creative person, two things are quite likely at the moment: you’re spending a lot of time at home and you’re thinking about your future work options. If either of those is true for you, now may be the perfect time to update your portfolio, website or resume!

If you don’t already have a website or digital portfolio, take a look at Squarespace or Wix.

If you need help setting up your website or revamping your resume and you have a bit of cash to spare, also consider hiring a freelancer to help you. This is a great way to help support those who may have lost work during this time. Have a look at who’s available on Upwork, Fiverr or Airtasker.

Practise something you’re not good at

Maybe you’re an amazing drawer but you’ve never quite got the hang of digital illustration. Or maybe you’re an incredibly skilled guitarist but you’re not great at writing songs.

Just about everyone has a thing that they could be better at but that they haven’t had the time to work on – until now! Consider using this time to reflect on your skillset and take steps to expand it. Even if you discover that whatever it is you’re trying to work on really isn’t your thing, you won’t have lost anything by giving it a go.

Tick things off your “to-watch” or “to-listen” list

You might be feeling really overwhelmed by everything going on right now and if so, some of the ideas mentioned above might seem like added stress. Even though staying productive is important, it’s also crucial to look after your mental health during this period of uncertainty.

If you’re feeling stressed out or exhausted, allow yourself some time to finally watch that movie you’ve been meaning to see or listen to that band you’ve heard great things about. This is a nice way to unwind but still feel the satisfaction of ticking something off your to-do list – and you never know, it might just give you the inspiration you’ve been craving!