Time management for creative people

wishful thinking

T ime Management

for Creative People
Manage the mundane - create the extraordinary
Mark McGuinness www.wishfulthinking.co.uk @markmcguinness
First published on www.businessofdesignonline.com

S ome rights reserved
This e-book published by Mark McGuinness, London 2007
Text © Mark McGuinness 2007
This e-book is published under a Creative Commons licence which allows you to copy and distribute the e-book as long as you keep it intact in its original format, credit the original author and do not use it for commercial purposes.

Web: www.wishfulthinking.co.uk
Blog: www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog
E-mail: [e-mail]

Important note about the illustrations
The images in this e-book are licensed from www.istockphoto.com for use within this document. If you wish to use them elswhere you should obtain a licence from www.istockphoto.com
Image credits:
p.1 www.istockphoto.com/ldf
p.4 www.istockphoto.com/demarco-media
p.7 www.istockphoto.com/foued42
p.10 www.istockphoto.com/kativ
p.14 www.istockphoto.com/claylib
p.17 www.istockphoto.com/tmcnem
p.21 www.istockphoto.com/ju-lee
p.25 www.istockphoto.com/leggnet
p.28 www.istockphoto.com/arlindo71

This e-book contains no affiliate links.

Wishful Thinking - www.wishfulthinking.co.uk

ii

C ontents
1. Why you need to be organised to be creative

4

2. Prioritise work that is ‘important but not urgent’

7

3. Ring-fence your most creative time

10

4. Avoid the ‘Sisyphus effect’ of endless to-do lists

14

5. Get things done by putting them off till tomorrow

17

6. Get things off your mind

21

7. Review your commitments

25

8. Resources to help you get things done

28

9. If you found this e-book helpful...

31

10. The author and publisher

32

Wishful Thinking - www.wishfulthinking.co.uk

iii

1 . Why you need to be o rganised to be creative

“Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent