Meaningful Creations

EDITION 05 / 2026

Well hello there Reader! 😁

This week I would like to share my completely revolutionary, absolutely mind-blowing productivity discovery with you. (OK, it's literally not any of those things. 😂 But stay with me. )

For so long I've tried different systems to make my to-do list feel a bit more manageable. Paper planners, apps (omg soooo many apps), colour-coded calendars...you name it and I've probably had a two-week obsession with it. Before usually abandoning it and feeling like a bit of a failure cos nothing seemed to stick.

And every single time, I'd end up in the same place. A bit overwhelmed, distracted by approximately everything, and somehow just not getting through what I need to get through! Meanwhile I'd be seeing everyone else's content and thinking "How are they getting so much done? What's wrong with me?"

Anyway - with my CanvaOS launch coming up in a couple of weeks, I knew I had a LOT to get through. And instead of dumping 347 tasks onto a list and staring at it in quiet despair (which, lets be honest, is very on brand for me 😁), I tried something a bit different. I sat down and worked out just ONE main thing I needed to achieve each day over the next two weeks. That one thing might still have steps and sub-tasks involved - it's not like I do one literal thing and then put my feet up (I wish!). But there's only ONE main achievement on the "done" column that really counts by the end of every day.

And I am genuinely shocked at how well it's working! 😳

It turns out I am just not wired for multi-tasking. Whether that's neurodivergence or just how my brain is built, I genuinely don't know. But what I do know is that by keeping JUST one clear target in sight each day, I lose so much less time to switching between tasks, and I don't get side-tracked by everything like struggle with. Plus I don't have that horrible feeling of spinning plates but also not knowing which direction my unicycle is going in.

Yes...as Miranda Priestly would say: "Groundbreaking." 🤣

But seriously - I know it's hardly a secret (or new) technique. Here's the thing tho... we are constantly bombarded with people telling us how to be more productive, and I think actually figuring out the way of working that suits YOUR brain - your energy, your body clock, your capacity - can sometimes just take a while to land. But let me tell you, when it does, it is SUCH a relief. I'm not saying this solves everything, but right now instead of ending the day feeling defeated by everything I DIDN'T tick off, I'm ending it feeling like I actually moved forward this week.

And for someone who beats themselves up quite a lot about not getting enough done, that's no small thing. Plus it sets me up for a better tomorrow too.

So if you're still in the middle of trying to figure out why all the "systems" don't seem to work for you - give yourself a bit of grace. You're not broken. You might just not have found your version yet.

EVERYTHING, I tell ya!!

Rather than a tutorial this week, I put together a video with my honest take on everything that was announced at Canva Create 2026 last week.

It feels like the headlines are doing a LOT of hyping out there ("This changes EVERYTHING!" 🙄), so I wanted to cut through that and just talk about what I actually think matters for small business owners and creators - and what you can probably ignore for now.

I mentioned some of it in last week's newsletter, but more than anything this is a reminder that the people who'll get the most out of these new features are the ones who've got their brand foundations properly sorted first.

Which, coincidentally, is exactly what CanvaOS is all about. (See what I did there? 😜). Anyway....

Check it out on my YouTube channel now.

This week I want to share something a little different - no beautiful design, no visuals. Just sound. And I promise it's worth it.

Charles Rose - aka Chasseur de sons or “Sound Hunter” (which is possibly the coolest job title I’ve ever heard 🤣) is an audio artist who records the sounds of the natural and living world that we would never, ever normally get to hear. We're talking the crackling of moss, trees breathing, insect footsteps on pebbles - entire sonic worlds that exist all around us but are completely invisible to everyday experience. He quit his job to dedicate himself to it full time, and when you listen to even a few seconds of his work, you completely understand why he fell in love with doing this. It feels like being handed a whole new set of senses.

I guess it's a good reminder that sometimes the most interesting perspectives come from slowing down and paying attention to things most people walk straight past. Which - now that I type it - is not a bad creative philosophy in general! 😁

Go and find Charles on Instagram and tell him I sent ya. 🖤