A calming kind of to-do list
And how composer Steve Wallace sticks to his creative vision / Issue 1,145
Oh, hi friends!
How do you capture all the things you want to do?
“Capture” feels apt, doesn’t it?
You might think, ‘Oh, I have to look up the name of that photographer,’ and ‘wait, what day was ConEd coming?’ and ‘did I book the rehearsal room yet?’
These little to-dos fly fast. And if you don’t capture them, they might come flooding back at 11:59 pm.
Yesterday I started to capture all the to-do things into four categories:
Short Tasks (~5-10 minutes)
Medium Tasks (~15-20 minutes)
Medium-to-Large Tasks (~30-45 minutes)
Large Tasks (~1 hour to 90 minutes)
It was incredibly helpful! Both to write them all down and to move through them.
When I found myself with a few free minutes, I grabbed something from the Short Tasks list and ticked it off.
Btw, there were also some Jumbo Tasks, but I decided if something was going to take longer than 90 minutes, it was probably a constellation of multiple tasks. They each deserved their own bullet point.
Can you calm your mind and capture some tasks today?
“Working on one particular project is really training ground for the next. Who knows, some might hit the public and some may not, but you want to do the best you can wherever you are. I listened back to my first album I made, it came out in 2005. It's called Come With Tha Real! And I hear so many mistakes and so many things that I would do differently. But if I hadn't done that album, then it wouldn't be able to inform the things that I do now, even outside the genre of an R&B album. It’s like stepping stones. If you don't finish the one thing, you can't go to the next with that wisdom.”
I got so much encouragement and inspiration from my chat with Steve Wallace, a true multi-hyphenate — he’s a composer, opera singer, R&B singer, producer, director, and much more.
I loved his honesty about how he’s guided through the creative process, and why he doesn’t wait to get inspired. Listen to our short chat on Apple Music, Spotify, my website, or your favorite podcast platform.
And exciting news! Steve and collaborators have actually adapted Animal Farm (yes, that Animal Farm) into a sweeping, operatic, timely new musical, with lyrics by Daniel Abrahamson and book by Sarah Mucek.
If you’re in New York, check out the developmental production through Nov. 20! Free to attend, more info here! Watch a musical be born!
By the way, if you’ve been enjoying my Do It Today podcast, could you please rate or leave a review so other people might find it? Or tell one friend!
These conversations have been a major buoy in my creative life over the past few months, and I hope they’re useful to you, too.
Have a great weekend, friends. Stay cozy.