One problem with having wide eclectic interests and an insatiable curiosity about everything in the world is that it can then be difficult to stick to any one creative project long enough to get it finished, especially if it is, by definition, a long-term commitment, like a book. There’s always the new shiny thing catching my eye.

As a result, I usually have several books-in-progress, as well as paintings and other projects in various stages of construction and deconstruction, and a backlog of new adventures waiting in the wings.

So how do I do it? How do I keep track of everything and stay on top of all my commitments, especially when classes are in session and I have homework on top of everything else.

The truth is I don’t. Well, ok, I do, but I don’t. What I mean is, during the semester I do almost no art or non-school related writing. Then between semesters, I pour myself into creative projects like a starving women at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

But for keeping on top of all my ongoing projects and tasks, whether school-related or studio-related or household chores, I use a combination of David Allen’s Getting Things Done system with Omnifocus software on my computer and a daily checklist that I create and update in Evernote.

First thing every morning I sit at my desk and review my Omnifocus lists, my calendar, and my goals (short- and long-term), and previous journal entries, and I revise my standard daily checklist to reflect any changes, appointments, commitments, or chores that need to be done. I also mark off the lists everything that I completed the previous day. This takes about half an hour and I’m careful not to let constant tweaking and piddling with the system eat up more time than that. In fact, I often set the timer on my phone for 30 minutes just to make sure.

Then, armed with my plan of action, I can get busy with things in whatever order of urgency or leisure is required to make progress on my goals.

Additionally, everyday I spend some time brainstorming in my journal about future things I would like to create, write about, study, or questions I want to look up answers for, frustrations, problems, successes, and failures. How much time varies with how much I feel I need to record – and the time spent is often scattered throughout day in short bursts as ideas come to me. I count this as part of my creative process, so it’s not time wasted… it’s time creating.

Do things slip through the cracks? All the time. Does everything ever get done? Never. Do I finish much more than I would if I didn’t plan like this? Absolutely.

A couple years ago, before I implemented this system, I felt constantly scattered and pulled in a hundred directions, like a juggler trying to keep 100 marbles in the air at once. I was always losing my marbles and never even remembered what half of them looked like. Now all my marbles are numbered, each one has a place, and I rarely lose them anymore.

Please log in and share with everyone how you keep all your projects, tasks, and commitments straight. Do you have a system?