Better Than Resolutions? How a Not-To-Do List Makes Room for What Really Matters

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The Power of the Not To-Do List in Creative Entrepreneurship

In season five of Measure Twice, Cut Once, the focus shifts to the behind-the-scenes world of quilting and creative business building. I'll share personal experiences and strategies for turning a passion into a profession, emphasizing the importance of a 'not to-do list.' This approach prioritizes conscious decisions on what to avoid to maintain focus and achieve goals efficiently, without sacrificing joy. The episode covers practical methods for managing time, reducing overcommitment, and maintaining creativity, providing valuable insights for aspiring and established creative entrepreneurs.

00:00 Introduction to Season Five
01:40 The Power of the Not-To-Do List
02:57 Real-Life Examples of Not-To-Do Lists
07:58 Daily Habits and Boundaries
10:57 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Episode Transcript

(00:05):
Welcome to season five ofMeasure Twice, Cut Once.
This whole season is anexploration into behind the
scenes of not just quilting, butbuilding a creative business
that truly lights you up.
As someone who's navigated theexciting, sometimes bumpy world
of turning a passion into aprofession, I'm excited to pull
back the curtain and share myown experiences.

(00:27):
Some episodes will be just me.
Diving deep into my personaljourney, while others will
feature guests who are alsonavigating the world of creative
entrepreneurship, we'll explorethe nitty gritty of building a
creative business, the lessonslearned and the unexpected
challenges that come withtransforming your craft into a
thriving enterprise.
Into a thriving enterprise.
And don't worry, I'm not leavingstorytelling behind.

(00:49):
Instead, I'll be weaving theminto the conversations about
what it takes to grow a businesswhile staying true to your
creative spirit.
So whether you're dreaming ofstarting your own business, or
you just love hearing aboutcreative entrepreneurship, this
season is for you.
As we embark on a brand newyear, I can't help but wonder,
have you ever felt, as I have,the highs of setting a

(01:12):
resolution, really goodintentions, only to experience
the lows of abandoning it orhaving it fizzle out a few weeks
later?
You're not alone.
Very, very few of those infamousNew Year's resolutions actually
last beyond the end of January,if even then.
And a frequent solution oranswer that's offered is to

(01:33):
avoid the all or nothing mindsetor to think in terms of progress
and motion, not perfection orarrival.
But I have an even more powerfultool to offer.
Let's jiffy and set the stage.
I began thinking about andwriting down a few specific
goals for 2025.
In the last quarter of 2024, andthis isn't a podcast about goal

(01:55):
setting, but very simply put, Ijust decided what the rocks are
in my upcoming year, the mainthings I want to accomplish.
And that sets me up for thispowerful tool.
I read about this way ofthinking several years back and
I immediately adopted it and itserved me well in the year since
it is the magic of the not to dolist.

(02:17):
After all, it's not just aboutwhat you want to achieve, but
also very much about what youconsciously decide to avoid in
order to focus on thoseachievements.
Let me repeat that.
It's not just about what youwant to achieve, but also very
much about what you consciouslydecide to avoid in order to
focus on those achievements.

(02:39):
In fact, when you concentrateyour efforts on fewer tasks,
you're much more likely tocomplete them efficiently and
with higher quality becausetrying to do all the things
brings frustration andoverwhelm.
And frankly, it lessens our joy.
And who wants that?
So here's how I've approachedit.
Throughout the year, as theyoccur, I like to jot down the

(03:00):
things that I want to learn todo, the bright ideas, the things
that capture my attention.
It might be something I see onPinterest, it might be something
I'm watching on YouTube.
For example, one of the thingslast year that caught my eye, I
was watching a multi episodetutorial by Tula Pink on English
paper piecing, and it's sogorgeous.
She makes such beautiful quilts.

(03:22):
And she's talking about whatthread she uses and matching the
stripes when you've got twopieces, butting up against each
other and all these wonderfulpractical ideas.
And I think to myself, I coulddo that.
And of course I absolutelycould.
And I want to.
But I also had to be real withmyself and say, but I'm doing
other things X, Y, and Zalready.

(03:43):
And it would take time away fromthem to really invest in
learning how to do English paperpiecing.
So it became one of the thingson my not to do list.
Here's some others that made mylist for 2025.
Learning to make sourdoughbread, teaching at quilt shows
across the country, and hostinga quilt along.
These are all things that to meare super appealing.

(04:05):
My family would really, reallylove if I took up the sourdough
bread, but it's just not to beat least not this year.
You know, I love quilting and Ilove the quilting community.
So when I get invitations toteach at quilt shows, I could
get all excited about that.
The idea of traveling andmeeting fellow quilters and
sharing the things I love aboutquilting.

(04:26):
That's so tempting.
But the truth of the matter is,extensive travel and teaching
would take so much time awayfrom my core focus, and I'm one
person.
I can only do so many thingswell, and I'd rather do a few
things well than many thingsbarely average.
So for me, the answer really hasbeen to choose which things I'm

(04:48):
not going to do, at least fornow, whether it's for this year
or this month or whatever thisseason is.
And today I'm talking largelyabout my business, but you can
relate this, I bet, to your lifeas well.
And the seasons of your life andthe not to do list might have a
place in your life too.
This just really helps me tomeasure the shiny, appealing

(05:11):
things that I see.
against my not to do list.
So the next time I receive aninvitation to teach at a big
show, I'll think, Oh no, I putextensive travel teaching on my
not to do list this year.
So, I can simply and kindlydecline and save that
opportunity for another time.
But can you see how it'sfreeing, really, to have this

(05:32):
intentional decision that you'renot going to do certain things?
And this might take differentforms.
It might have to do with yoursocial life and how many card
games you go to with yourfriends or how many lunch dates
you have in a month.
It might have to do with gameapps on your device.
And I'm preaching to myself herebecause that's a thing for me
that I love.
I could fritter away.

(05:53):
A ton of time on those games.
I love them.
I love Sudoku.
I love Wordle and variouspuzzles.
But when I purposely decide I'mnot going to do some of these
specific things, or not going todo them for certain time frames,
then it helps me to make wisechoices in the moment.
This is how the freeing takesplace.

(06:13):
When you've already made adecision, now you know how to
measure what you're spendingyour time on against that
decision.
So one area that was criticalfor me to face up to was how I
wanted to grow my businesswithin the quilting industry.
There are many paths I couldtake, and I've tried different
things, honestly, and thought,maybe this is an answer, or,

(06:34):
Maybe that is.
One of them, for me, was patternpublishing.
And the truth is, it's somethingthat I could do.
I have ideas for quilts.
I'm an accomplished sewist ofquilts, so I have the know how
for doing the quilting math andfiguring out the pattern.
But what I learned through doingjust a couple of them is that

(06:54):
pattern writing is far morecomplex than it seems.
It takes a tremendous amount ofwork to produce all the graphics
and the technical writing thatgoes with a pattern idea.
And I realized, I don't lovethat side of it, and that is the
majority of the work.
It's not the bright idea, thecreative idea, that's the big
thing.
It's the carrying out of itthat's time consuming and what I

(07:17):
was in fact committing to.
So if you don't love that as Ididn't, that was not a good fit.
So that was an easy one for meto decide.
Publishing patterns is not goingto be my future.
That's one of the things that'son my not to do list, and I'll
choose something that's a betterfit.
This does not stop me fromhaving creative ideas.
When I see a quilt, Hanging at ashow or in a magazine that

(07:40):
sparks an idea.
I might go home and make thatquilt because I love making it.
But I don't have to follow thatprogression of, Oh, if I'm going
to make a new idea, I need toalso publish it.
I don't need to.
That's something that isdefinitely on my not to do list.
Let's talk for a second aboutsome smaller daily things too,

(08:01):
because they matter just asmuch.
Some of the daily things that wehabitually For me, it means
being intentional about when Iengage with social media and
emails.
For example, I don't open socialmedia apps during my morning
coffee and devotions.
They wait until I've completed acouple of key tasks from my

(08:23):
planner, my important things forthe morning.
With emails, I've actually setspecific times.
There's a period in the morningand another in the late
afternoon when I handlecorrespondence outside those
windows of time.
And when I need to get a thingdone, I will actually turn off
notifications entirely so that Istay focused and present for the

(08:43):
work that matters most.
And it kind of works in twoways.
It keeps me from beingdistracted all day, those not to
do things.
And it also means when I've putboundaries around how much time
I spend on the emails, I canquickly turn them out because
it's not an open ended period oftime.
Um, side tip there.

(09:05):
Here's another one, and I'mreally preaching to myself here.
It's also crucial to think aboutcommitments, overall, and guard
against overcommitment.
For instance, in my quiltingstudio, I do quite a few comfort
quilts for gifting.
They might be quilts of valor orfor foster kids or for cancer
care patients, something likethat.
But instead of saying yes toeveryone randomly, I now commit

(09:30):
to quilting two of them eachmonth.
Once I've accepted those two,any additional requests have a
kind, no, until next month theygo on the not to do list.
Similarly, Teaching online hasbecome a priority for me, and so
I've had to be intentional abouthow many client quilts I accept.
Setting these limits gives methe time I need to be responsive

(09:53):
to students and to work on newcourse material.
I want to be altogether 100percent there when I'm in Zoom
sessions with my students.
I don't want to feel rushed.
So the way I do that is I do nothave too many quilts on my work
in progress list.
As creatives too, I think wereally need to leave some margin

(10:15):
between the things that we'redoing intentionally.
As I'm listening to myself talk,I'm realizing I sound like I
block out every day and I fit ineverything.
I do try to block out the thingsthat are important to me to do,
but I leave.
A good deal of time and opennessbetween things or days that are
free.

(10:36):
It is just essential that we donot fill every hour and every
minute with expectations ofourselves.
We need space for unexpectedthings.
We certainly need space forrelationships.
And as creatives, we need somespace just for our Creativity
that cannot be rushed andgenerally cannot be scheduled

(10:56):
either.
So as I close, remember thatyou're not to do list is a
living document.
It is not another thing you'vegot to do.
Gosh knows.
I don't want to give you that,but it's living It's constantly
changing with your seasons andyour priorities and it's not
cast in stone, but a tool forhelping us to stay focused and

(11:16):
intentional about the way wespend our time.
There will come a time, I'mpretty sure, when making that
crusty sourdough loaf will bethe way I want to spend a whole
afternoon, but that time is nottoday.
Your not to do list is yoursecret weapon for maintaining
focus, for preserving energy,and creating the space you need
for the projects andrelationships that truly bring

(11:38):
you joy and bring you closer toyour goals or ideals.
So here's to intentional living.
Until next time, may yoursorrows be patched and your joys
be quilted.