The game is called “MIND SPACE” - also known as my velcro to do list board and it’s the ultimate mind map to my daily, weekly and monthly tasks. The board is intended to keep me on track, helping me visualize what it is I am working on so I can achieve all the projects and things I’ve set out to do and want to accomplish in my life.
The intention behind this blog is to show you a breakdown of my system. I found a process which works for me and wanted to share my research so far. If you’d like to take this as inspiration to create your own “MIND SPACE” map that works for you, I’d love to pass the idea forward. This is the ultimate to do list board and it’s meant to give you direction.
The question I asked myself before creating “MIND SPACE” is: when I close my eyes and think of myself in my highest form, what does that person look like? What kind of habits do I want to work on and have? What kind of projects do I want to be doing? What are all the tasks that I ever have to get done?
There are hundreds of tasks we do during the day which take up our mental energy and life can definitely be exhausting. I’m just trying to set good habits and discipline because this year my main focus was BALANCE. Finding balance between work, life, play, focus, reset is important.
In the past I’ve found myself buried in my edits and months away from spending time with my family or neglecting time in the garden, which I really enjoy. It’s easy to only focus on one thing and forget about other areas of your life that are important for your mental health. My main goal with “MIND SPACE” is to remember all of the things that make me, me, and all the things I want to do so I can be the person I’ve always wanted to become. I don’t want to forget anything, and there is so much I want to get done!
A lot of times people tell me they have so much work to do, they haven’t done a creative project in a while and don’t know if they have the time for it. Listen, you have the time. As my friend once told me, “you will make time for the things you want most.”
First, you need to understand what it is you want to do.
Second, you need to let go of working on projects that only make you money. Start working on your soul projects, they hold the strongest currency for building your momentum forward in your personal/spiritual growth. When you start to work on your balance, the projects that also make you money, will still be there and when you allow yourself to work on your soul projects, you will only attract the right energy your way. That’s just how it is.
Definition of a Soul Project: something you want to do but don’t have to do.
On the contrary “I’m drowning in a sea of creative projects and ideas” can easily be overwhelming for anyone, and when you have a major backlog of work projects and creative projects, it could feel like you are chained to your work. Which project do you tackle first? This is when you could end up doing nothing because there is so much to do.
The goal is to take it one step at a time.
With “MIND SPACE” You have charted your course, and now you are on your way. You got this.
This to do list board is the result of wanting to chisel away at myself like a Roman statue. I am intentionally sculpting myself to my highest form. I understand life is precious. I am grateful for my existence and am devoted to actualizing my dreams into reality.
The creation of “MIND SPACE” was also the result of craving structure, and recognizing that I am my own teacher. I can’t wait to have kids one day, but before I teach my own kids about life, I need to really solidify my own core values and beliefs. There was also a part of me that wanted to feel like a kid in kindergarten, gaining the satisfaction of star points every time a task has been complete. I like to keep my star points up on the board throughout the week so I can see how much I’ve accumulated and also to take note of what areas on the board I’ve been more focused on so I can be more intentional about where I spend my time. This is how I make sure I am balanced. I reset the stars every Sunday.
Sundays are for reset,
Mondays are for clocking back in.
I used to think I was working on hundreds of things at the same time and It was a result of my ADHD or inability to focus etc whatever it could be. I’ve come to the realization that actually doing a little bit of a task at a time, taking a step away, doing something else, then something else, then coming back to the task only enriches the outcome of that project because every time I come back to a project I am now seeing it with fresh eyes. It almost becomes easier. I’m further along in the progress. That makes me feel good and determined to keep going.
There is a reason why painters are told to take a step back and look at their work from a distant perspective. Reseting is an essential part of the creative process and I like to imagine every task actually holds its own power for reset.
Reset could mean laying in the grass for 10 minutes doing nothing and watching the sky change color, or it could mean hanging with friends, cleaning, or even organizing your work or actually working. Reset could literally be anything as long as you enjoy all that you are putting your heart into. Sleep is the most classic form of reset and is essentially the most important aspect to my creative process. I always say, I sleep a lot on the days that I am home editing. Most of my time editing is actually spent sleeping. My favorite is editing, getting sleepy, taking a nap, waking up and powering through the edit as soon as I wake up. I always feel the most recharged and in the flow after a good nap.
My “MIND SPACE” map has multiple sections and is made up of thirty five 12 inch felt panels hot glued to a 4’ x 8’ piece of thin plywood. The tasks are then painted on wooden bookmarks and the projects I am working on are written out in pen on popsicle sticks which I had colored in with a yellow marker to help make it stand out on the board. The tasks and projects have a strip of velcro hot glued to the back making it easy to move around on the felt board as needed. My intention now is this board will last me my lifetime. Taking the time to actually create the board is a magical act in itself. The creation of the “MIND SPACE” board is a process that takes a long time. Someone asked me “well could I pay you to make me one?” The answer is no. You have to do it yourself. With each task you are thinking of, writing down, painting, reading, you remind yourself of the person you want to become. It is all part of your journey into actualizing your dreams into reality and this hard work IS what will get you into the fast lane in life.
The board is broken up into 10 sections.
Personal Tasks
Family Tasks
Self Care Tasks
Home Tasks
Work Tasks
Coming Up
Today
Tomorrow
Projects To Do
Completed Projects
Personal/ Family Tasks: On the left I have my personal/ family category including tasks like going on a walk, being in nature, drumming, watching movies, crafting, gardening, spending time with family and calling my grandparents/ cousins. Right now in this category I’m hoping to go on more walks and learn more than the single drum beat I know, we’ll see. I really love playing music with Sam even if it’s just for 15-30 minutes, but it would be nice to take the time to learn another beat.
Self Care Tasks: The next panel of category is self care which includes tasks like getting a massage, haircut, taking a bath, not forget I want to get my eyebrows/nails done or put sunscreen on. This self care category is unfortunately the most neglected in my daily/ weekly routine. I love taking baths and getting a massage but finding the time to allow myself to relax can sometimes be a struggle for me. Even taking my vitamins feels like a big accomplishment because it is not something I do easily every day. I hope I can get into the habit of flossing and my biggest personal goal in this category is working on my posture and getting physical exercise. I have not gotten into the habit of stretching/gym/yoga/exercise yet but I’m hoping to get it into my routine by reminding myself it’s something I want to be doing. I want to live a healthy lifestyle. The theory is, if I see it in front of me, I will be reminded that accomplishing this task is the person I want to be. Even though there are tasks on the board that I have not gotten to yet, I believe I will get to them one day in the future.
Home Tasks: Then we have the category which comes the easiest to me, taking care of the house and cleaning. It’s my personal favorite because this category helps me honor my space and the category I really feel like I reset in. I believe my home is a reflection of my mind and organized chaos. I’m lucky I love to clean. In a way I feel like that is how I get most of my exercise. This category is good for reminding myself to water the plants but also, reminding myself when I am doing laundry so I don’t forget to put the laundry away instead of letting the load pile up.
I have crepes written on here because making crepes on Sunday feels like a special tradition I want to have in my life. My mom and Sams dad love making crepes, the habit of Sunday crepes is just simply a vibe I want to experience more often.
Work Tasks: On the right is my most important category, my work related tasks which include client calls, replying to emails, sending contracts, shooting, editing, saving footage, going through footage (CHOP), uploading, delivering, revising, invoicing, charging batteries, posting, working on the magazine, blog, website etc. The list goes on. I am pretty much the most focused in this category on the board throughout the week. This category is good for breaking down the little tasks which make up my job. It can be overwhelming remembering everything I need to get done, this way I have it all written out in front of me, almost like a checklist. I must always have charged batteries and clear SD cards.
Coming Up, Today, Tomorrow: When it’s time to plan out my day, I have 3 main categories on the bottom middle of the board. In the “coming up” “today” or “tomorrow” category I move the tasks and projects I want to get done into these categories to make up my list for the day. Organizing my tasks and projects this way helps take off the feeling of feeling overwhelmed when I know I have a lot I want to get done. I just remind myself to take it one step at a time, and go with the flow. I most likely won’t even get to everything it is I want to do, but at least I know what it is I am working on during this general time frame and the satisfaction of getting the tasks done and earning a star is enough motivation to keep me going.
Projects To Do: Currently I have 38 project popsicle sticks on the board. That means I have 38 ideas cooking in my brain. Crazy right? Some is paid work, some is just for the soul. Because I have so many ideas and projects I want to work on, I took it one step forward and organized the projects I want to finish within certain seasons. This should help keep me on track to making sure I’m not just coming up with an infinite amount of ideas without actually getting any of them done. I write out all the projects I want to get done on popsicle sticks and make sure I keep the board updated as I come up with more ideas of things I want to get done.
Completed Projects: When I finish this blog post, I’ll be earning a star point. I’m really excited about that and have been wanting to speak about my experience with my ultimate to do list board since this summer when “MIND SPACE” came into existence. Seeing how many projects I’ve finished throughout the year in my completed section feels rewarding and is a good way to feel proud of the work that I’ve already accomplished and how far I’ve come in my journey!
I am essentially programing my brain when the first thing I do in the morning is reset the date and think about what kinds of things I want to accomplish that day. I start my morning off with intention and visualize what I need to get done to bring me closer to my goals. When I see all the things I need to accomplish, I recognize taking it one step at a time and going slow is grounding and allowing myself to pace myself only enhances my experience per project.
I am writing this to you now having gone through the day only completed writing the draft for the blog, hanging out with some friends, meditating and managing to put on some lotion. I have so many more tasks that I wanted to do and wasn’t able to get to. But the best part is when I wake up in the morning what I need to do is clear and organized. I know where I am going. I have mindscaped all of these things I want and that’s half the job. Sometimes it feels like 90% is figuring out what you need to do and 10% is bringing it to fruition. Just keep going. You got this.
If you resonated with anything I said, I hope this helps! Check below for amazon links to all the materials and also, here’s a link to a meditation that I hold dear in my heart.
ENTER THE MAGICIANS CIRLCE.
A MEDITATION BY JASON LOUV.
Remember:
You create your own reality
You are unlimited
You get what you concentrate on
The moment of power is now
All power comes from within
Podcast I really enjoyed listening to:
“MIND SPACE” Ingredients:
The Ultimate To Do List Board
FELT PANELS
Other supplies I used:
Hot glue gun + glue sticks
Paintbrush
Black acrylic paint
Matte spray paint sealer
4’ by 8’ plywood
Yellow marker
Happy crafting! Bring it on world!
good luck!
LOVE,
Sophia Roud
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