Do you have loads of ideas but you never seem to get anything done? Do you always have loads of projects on the go at once? You work really hard, you are always busy, but nothing ever seems to get completed?
I have worked on this situation with a number of clients and the way forward is often to do less. Or rather, to do everything but in order, rather than trying to do all of the things all of the time.
Whenever we have a new idea it feels like the most exciting thing, the most important thing and the thing that needs to be done now. Yet if we give in to that feeling every time we end up with lots of half finished ideas on the go and no time to get anything completed. It is loads of fun to start something new, but if you truly want to make progress you need to work through projects one at a time.
So how to begin? Make a list of all of the projects you have on the go, the ideas you have, the things you are trying to get done. If any of them no longer feel like the right thing to be doing, cross them off. There is no need to finish anything just for the sake of it, if something isn’t working then it can be binned.
Do any of these projects go in an obvious order? For instance, are you trying to launch something new and also sort out your social media platforms? The platforms probably need to come first, so you have a way of promoting your new product. Go through the list and put the projects in order of when they need to get done, when you would like them to get done, and how they make sense in terms of the coming weeks and months.
Next, allocate one project to each month. Project one will get done next month, project two the month after and so on. Yes, I know that means your list probably runs years into the future. That is okay – we are now dealing with reality instead of fantasy.
What does this plan achieve? Firstly, it gives you a focus for each month. There will be no more procrastination because you will know what you should be doing, how you should be spending any bits of time that you have, what are the priorities.
Secondly, it means that things will actually start to get done. Will you have everything done in a couple of months? No, but you never would have done anyway. What you will have done in a couple of months is two projects. In a year you will have done twelve. You may even do more, because if you complete one project in a couple of weeks there is nothing to stop you from starting the next one. The timescales may change, but one thing is certain: completion will actually happen.
I realise that this is easy to write but for some of you it will be really difficult to execute. If that is you, but this sounds like a good idea, please do get in touch as coaching with me can assist with both the practical application and the mindset blocks involved.
Let’s make some progress!
Helen Calvert
October 2021