ToDon’tCompany helps creative individuals boost their productivity with books, games, apps, workshops, and talks. Our philosophy is simple: make choices, leave things out, and your life/work/projects will improve. In short: the more you subtract, the more focus you get.
Books
If You Don’t
Economics for Creative People
A little book about the big and overwhelming issues humanity is dealing with. Taking economics as a surprising stepping stone, it connects the dots between essential developments in science, history, sociology, technology, design and culture. It is not a book about terrifying numbers, but about key stories from our past and present and how they affect our future.
The ToDontList-Method, which featured in this book’s two predecessors, unveils a surprising truth: sometimes, the best action is inaction. This book gives you insight into how simple choices affect the manner in which we designed and can redesign our world. As a creative, you could have a greater effect not by adding more, but by thoughtfully subtracting.
Sometimes, the outcome may be that it’s best to do nothing – if you want to save the world.
Don’t Read This Book
Time Management for Creative People
As creative people, we have ideas. Some of us have many ideas, others have really good ones, and most of us have many really good ideas. But most of these never see the light of day. Why? If you ask a creative person, the answer will always revolve around time. We simply need time to execute an idea (and do it well)—more time than we have.
Don’t Read This Book focuses on how to make choices about everything you do in your daily creative practice and life. The book follows the ‘To Don’t List’ method: When you say ‘no’ to one idea, you have more time to execute another one. In short: the more you subtract, the more focus and time you get.
The book is divided into three parts: Life, Workplace, and Projects. It covers everything from defining your life goals, to writing a five sentence-long email, to leaving out as much as possible in a project. Whether you are a student or professional, this book will save you time. (Of course, if you don’t read it, you will save some time directly.)
Don’t Buy This Book
Entrepreneurship for Creative People
What is more important to you: making a lot of money or doing something that makes you happy? If you want to make a lot of money, don’t buy this book. If you want to do what makes you happy and make a living doing it, then by all means, read this book.
As creative people, we always have at least 1 idea that we’d like to turn into a business. In 3 parts — Sell, Make, and Grow — Don’t Buy This Book covers everything from testing your idea to setting up your business and owning your impact as an entrepreneur.
Test your idea, write your first pitch, determine your pricing, deal with budget-poor clients. Develop responsibly, hire the right people, create a stay strategy. Grow like a tree, avoid add-ons, handle competitors. Use the ToDon’tList Method.
Games & Apps
Don’t/Do This
Game
Thought Experiments for Creative People
As you are a creative person, this thought experiment game will help you step out of your comfort zone. How? It stimulates creativity by imposing limitations. Boundaries encourage you to explore beyond the typical solutions and push you in new directions. This is how you come up with unexpected and extraordinary ideas.
This game encourages creativity through limitation and builds on the ideas presented in “Don’t Read This Book – Time Management for Creative People.” The ‘Do’ and ‘Don’t’ cards prompt you to think differently than usual. Initially, the rules may seem like a major obstacle. However, once you start playing, you’ll realize that limitations also present opportunities. Rules make you find loopholes.
ToDon’tList
Do you need a simple but effective to-do list app? The ToDon’tList helps you choose what you will do, but more importantly, what you won’t do.
That way, you get to focus on what truly matters.
ToDon’tTimer
Use the ToDon’tTimer to sketch and test your ideas in a limited timeframe. You can use the ToDon’tTimer for all your creative processes. The ToDon’tTimer is also an exciting Don’t/Do This – Game addition.
Work Don’t Shop
Productivity Workshop
for Creative People
Work Don’t Shop is a great ice-breaker for conferences and events. It can be tailored to different groups, from corporate organizations to art students – whether they are in a ‘creative’ industry or not.
Workshop
During the workshop, you will write, talk and sketch according to the ToDon’tList method: make choices, do less, but do it better. You will work alone as well as in teams. Take what works for you.
The first part of the workshop will offer straightforward exercises that reveal who, what and where you want to be in a matter of minutes. By making the right choices, you not only gain focus in your life but also your work and projects. What is important? What do you do and what do you not do? How do you stay away from side paths?
The second part of the workshop — the game — shows what you can do creatively; how you can find solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems long before the deadline. The game forces you to get out of your comfort zone. The imposed limitations and rules of the game stimulate creativity like you wouldn’t believe. Find the “Loopholes”.
We proudly offered transformative workshops for these organizations, among others.
