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Author: Ellen FayeChallenging Disorganization General Goal Setting Organizing Procrastination Productivity Project Management Time Management

Finding it Hard to Get Started on That Project?

Everyone procrastinates sometimes.  It only becomes problematic when procrastination is the norm.  Reasons for procrastination include perfectionism, overwhelm, over-analysis, and lack of planning.  What can you do when you have a project that needs to get done?

Clear the Decks:

  • Plan ahead and get your routine and critical tasks taken care of.
  • Schedule time to work on your project.  Be sure you plan enough time to get a fair amount of the project work done. Starting and stopping is hard; it takes a lot of discipline and wastes a lot of time and energy.

Make a Plan:

  • Write down the steps of the project on Post-its – one step per Post-it.
  • Put the post-it’s in a logical order.
  • You now have a plan.

Make it Fun:

  • It’s ok to alternate fun parts with more tedious ones.
  • You don’t have to start at the beginning either – if the first step is too hard or too boring, start on another part of the project.

Get Ready:

  • Pull all related material together (start this a week or two early), when you sit down to work, you’ll have your materials at hand.

Get Set:

  • When it’s time to get down to work, do what you can to minimize interruptions:
    • close out your email and Facebook
    • Forward your phone to voicemail
    • Clear the clutter off your desk
    • Close your office door.

Go:

  • Jump in and do it:
    • Know that as hard as it is to start it’s worse if you don’t get the project done or miss your deadline.
    • Don’t worry about perfection, if you never get started, you’ll never get finished.

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