Write down your makers bucket-list
Few things are certain in life, among them is the fact that you only get to create a finite number of things in your life. And if a large portion of your time is already allocated, it becomes important to prioritize rigorously, so that you waste none on thinking about what to do instead of actually doing something when you have an hour to spend on something constructive, on creating, on doing a project of your own. In the same manner that a lot of people keep a list of places to visit and things to experience before they join the choir invisible, it would be a good idea to have your makers bucket list ready upfront.
Sure, I‘d be hard pressed to come up with a category much more generic than „Making things“. Yet it rules out mainly consuming activities (e.g. reading books, visiting an exhibition, traveling, etc.). Those should go on different lists, but what to actively include definitively needs some thought. When that thought enables you to focus once you do have time to allocate, it would be well-spent. Dabbling around without a concrete goal likely results in spreading yourself too thin and the top-most item of a maker‘s bucket list should act as a deterrent to that kind of behavioral pattern.
A few questions to ponder, when creating your list can be:
- What is outside of your immediate needs that you would find fun?
- Which branch your field would you like to explore?
- What would you wish to have come up on your own with?
- What object would be cool to have?
- What was the last thing a single person came up with that I admired?
- Which off-the-shelf product does an okay, but not very good job?
Personally, I‘d also love to read such lists on the websites of creative people. I have to admit, my own list is not in the best shape. Feel free to call me out for being a hypocrite if I don‘t put mine on here some time in the near future. But since I see my current top-most item staring at me, and I‘ve got a few minutes left, so I know what I‘ll do after this little piece is published.