The BIGG Successs Show
I'm Overwhelmed! How Do I Get Started on my Project?
3 tips to help you get out-of-the-gate on your next project. Read the show summary at biggsuccess.com.
Welcome to The Big Success Show. Today, we'll discuss three tips to help you get started on your next project. The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. Danny mailed us his big challenge and he just got a new job, so congratulations, Dan. Way to go, Dan. And this job requires him to do a lot of projects, and he says that whenever a project comes his way, he seems to get overwhelmed by all the little things that have to be done. And what happens is he gets frozen and has a hard time getting started. So he says it usually takes a couple days to really dive in, and he'd like some big advice on how to do a better job of getting out of the gate. Wow, you know, Dan, don't feel alone on this one. We all have our issues when it comes to a big project and feeling overwhelmed. And, you know, like, for example, George, whenever you've got a bunch of papers to grade, you tend to put it off. Yes, I think that's the time when most of the other things on this video list get done, and the papers still sit there. Yeah, it's like, wow, the dishes are done, but the grading still isn't. So it can be daunting, and sometimes you do wonder, how am I going to get this all done? We're going to share three tips to help you get started on your next project. The first one is this, break it down. Don't look at it as one big project. That's with two G's. Yes. Look at it as a series of small ones, the small, many projects, then, don't look so overwhelming, right? They're things that you can accomplish relatively quickly and easily. Sometimes you'll break down your grading, right? You'll do, like, one essay question or something. Absolutely, makes it a lot simpler. And this brings us to number two, which is, just get started. You might start with something that plays to your strengths, something that you find easy, Dan. Or, what I like to do is look over the project and see what tasks require input from somebody else. And then I'll reach out to those people. It's pretty easy thing to do because, you know, it's sending email, it's making phone calls. But what I'm doing is getting the ball rolling on pieces of the project that require a response. Yeah, and then, by starting off with the easy stuff, you sort of get the momentum going your way, or as some of the athletes might say, momodum. We had the momentum, and then we lost the momodum, right? You know, but the thing is, checking things off feels good. And it creates that positive energy for the project. And, you know, what I like to do next, Mary Lynn, is just get the hard stuff out of the way then, because I know then the easy things are yet to come. And by front loading the project a little bit, I know that I have it made as the project nears completion. You'll be coasting downhill, right? And, finally, Dan, number three, don't overload your day. Obviously, you have a deadline for this whole project. And in point one, we said to break it down into mini projects, plan it out so that each mini project has its own deadline, and schedule those mini projects so they don't consume your entire day. And this way, you're going to look forward to doing your project more. You're going to be more likely to dive in each day and keep going. And then, give yourself some fudge, you know, time to react to other things. Time for some rewards, right? Some little treats for accomplishing what you set out to do. Some downtime, and time to work on something else that may just be more fun, like answering emails, or making some phone calls, or whatever you want to do. I thought you literally meant to go get some fudge. That sounds really good right now. Doesn't know. Coming up, Dan, an analogy that will help you put it all together. Today, we're answering an email from Dan who has trouble getting started on a project. Dan, here's an analogy that will help simplify this whole process. Think about putting together a jigsaw puzzle, right? Jigsaw puzzle. Yeah, so you pour all the pieces out onto the table and you've got this big mess. Where do you start? Well, I don't start with grading. I'll tell you that. You know, I start looking for the corner pieces and they're just the easiest to find, right? Right. And then I look for all the border pieces and put them together. Now I have that framework in place for all the rest of the puzzle. Right. And so now you can start working on the inside. You look at the picture and the colors and start looking for pieces that fit into those border pieces and match each other and you keep going until you're done. And it sounds so easy. I know. The other thing is create a picture of the completed project in your mind. Keep that in mind. Put the framework in place and then fill it in. Project done, Dan. All right. Thank you very much, Dan, for emailing us today. We appreciate it and we wish you big success on your big project. And if you have a big challenge that you'd like help with, contact us through our website at big success. That's B-I-G-G success.com. That's also where we have a written summary of today's show. And let's get our big quote for today. Quote today comes from Calvin Coolidge, who said, "We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once." So to get started, don't focus on everything. Just work on something. And next time, Marilyn, I love the subject we're talking about next time. What's that? Why it pays to be late for work. Why it pays to be late. Absolutely. I'm going to sleep in then. Until then, here's to your big success. The Big Success Show at B-I-G-G Success.com. [MUSIC] You [BLANK_AUDIO]