I'm a big fan of David Allen, author of many productivity books including one called, "Getting Things Done." If you want to enhance your ability to check things off your "to do" list, his books will get you on the right track.
The most impactful thing that I have taken from Mr. Allen is the importance of figuring out your very next step or steps when you tackle a goal. This often starts with clear thinking about the obstacles that are standing in your way to getting started.
I'll take a simple example. I have this beautiful 1,000 piece puzzle with a scene of an Italian Bistro on it that I have been wanting to get started on for months. It's been sitting in the box in our kitchen (so I won't forget I want to put it together) nagging me the whole time. Big goal, not sure how to get started.
Having thought about why I was stuck, I identified that the biggest obstacle was that I didn't have a place to set it up. Obviously, this is something that once started will not be completed over night - I needed a place where it could take up temporary housing...and not at the kitchen table! Then the other problem, the puzzle is huge, so space was an issue.
Game plan : buy some foam core to make the puzzle portable. Keep it downstairs in the basement until I'm ready to work on it and then put it away when I'm finished for that day. Ok, but then that big piece of foam core is also an obstacle - it's too big and cumbersome to easily cart around. Hmmm, then I spied this small tray with a lip on it in our basement that would be perfect as a satellite tool to put chunks of pieces together while I was anywhere. Then I would take the chunks and add them to the bigger puzzle on the foam core. Side note: You will find as I have, that ideas just start popping when you take an action toward a goal and you create momentum!
Cool. So now I have the supportive structure and a plan...go through the pieces and put together the border first. Then, identify like colored pieces and use the tray to put them together one grouping at a time.
Now this was a really simplistic example, but it plays out the point that if you just look at a big goal without even thinking about how you might tackle it, it will sit there an nag you. It is easy to get distracted by our hectic lives and leave our most cherished goals on the sidelines, but sometimes it's just as simple as putting some brain power into it. Start giving goal achievement your attention by figuring out how you can get started...and soon you'll be a starter AND a finisher!
The most impactful thing that I have taken from Mr. Allen is the importance of figuring out your very next step or steps when you tackle a goal. This often starts with clear thinking about the obstacles that are standing in your way to getting started.
I'll take a simple example. I have this beautiful 1,000 piece puzzle with a scene of an Italian Bistro on it that I have been wanting to get started on for months. It's been sitting in the box in our kitchen (so I won't forget I want to put it together) nagging me the whole time. Big goal, not sure how to get started.
Having thought about why I was stuck, I identified that the biggest obstacle was that I didn't have a place to set it up. Obviously, this is something that once started will not be completed over night - I needed a place where it could take up temporary housing...and not at the kitchen table! Then the other problem, the puzzle is huge, so space was an issue.
Game plan : buy some foam core to make the puzzle portable. Keep it downstairs in the basement until I'm ready to work on it and then put it away when I'm finished for that day. Ok, but then that big piece of foam core is also an obstacle - it's too big and cumbersome to easily cart around. Hmmm, then I spied this small tray with a lip on it in our basement that would be perfect as a satellite tool to put chunks of pieces together while I was anywhere. Then I would take the chunks and add them to the bigger puzzle on the foam core. Side note: You will find as I have, that ideas just start popping when you take an action toward a goal and you create momentum!
Cool. So now I have the supportive structure and a plan...go through the pieces and put together the border first. Then, identify like colored pieces and use the tray to put them together one grouping at a time.
Now this was a really simplistic example, but it plays out the point that if you just look at a big goal without even thinking about how you might tackle it, it will sit there an nag you. It is easy to get distracted by our hectic lives and leave our most cherished goals on the sidelines, but sometimes it's just as simple as putting some brain power into it. Start giving goal achievement your attention by figuring out how you can get started...and soon you'll be a starter AND a finisher!
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