5 tips for getting sh*t done.

When it comes to projects, be it crafts, house improvements, or work efforts, it is always easier to get started than it is to finish.  Why is that? What happens from the excitement of an idea or need to the eventual abandonment of a project?

Think of something you started in the last couple months.  Maybe it was last week. Maybe it was a New Years resolution. Are you still working on it?  Have you made progress? Have you even made it beyond the first step? Odds are good it’s sitting on a shelf spewing massive guilt every time you walk by it.  Isn’t that annoying?

I want to brainstorm 5 useful ways to get out of the starting-up-rut and finish all those things you began so you can bask in a life of satisfaction and accomplishment.  I’m a big believer in pen and paper or visual reminders so I suggest writing this stuff down somewhere you can see it.

Find Your True Motivation.

All too often we find these projects that we want to get done.  Sometimes they have to get done, but we don’t look at the project as anything other than a finish line.  We quickly forget that anything worth finishing requires motivation. If we only stay motivated by the finish line (the vision), then our motivation will quickly die until we reach the finish line.

But the finish line is so far away most times that we can’t sustain or even build any momentum to get us through the low points in a project.  So take a step back. Search for a Motivation that isn’t just “finishing the job”.  

Is it Survival?  Do you need to be reminded that not finishing the work puts your life or work in jeopardy?  In a period of time where humans don’t have to hunt and gather to stay alive there’s not much that actually threatens our livelihood, but maybe your lifestyle is on the line.  Not finishing compromises your best life.  You don’t often have to be reminded that Survival is the fire under your feet, but always ask yourself, “Will succeeding build my brand and bolster my lifestyle?”

If Survival isn’t really on the line then simulate it.  Put yourself between a rock and a hard place. Set something in motion beyond yourself that requires you to finish the project.  Remodeling the guest bathroom?  Throw a house party. Make the timeline uncomfortable.  Trigger your survival instincts and I guarantee your motivation will build from within.  Want to get into candle making? Sign up for a craft fair that’s happening in two months.  Put some money in front of it. Above all, give yourself an external reason to get it done.

Or build Accountability.  Accountability is a motivation for work, but it can’t be the simple accountability flavor of “I bring up this project to my friends so that I’m accountable”.  That’s important, but take it farther. Ask a friend to call you every week to ask about it. Let those conversations drive your progress so that every time she calls you can talk about how much has happened.  It also opens you up for honest discussions about the work since isolation can shut down ingenuity.

Blood, sweat, and tears?  Maybe you’ve forgotten how much you like the grind.  Some people get fired up about the work so much so that crossing the finish line is secondary to the journey it took to get there.  Motivate yourself by laying out the hard work for getting to the end. Focus on those many hours it’ll take to be successful, and strategize ways to make that seemingly endless stage of hard work actually fun.  Music? Beers? Make the hard work more approachable and your motivation will follow.

Show Up.

Tom Hanks said, “Showing up on time is one of the greatest liberating acts you can give yourself [in a movie]”.  He elaborates by talking about how much of an advantage you have when you are prepared to show up and do your job without reminder.  There’s so much value in being prepared, settled down, and ready to go there.  Hundreds of books have been written to stress the importance of showing up on time and ready.

90% of any job is showing up.  The next 5% is getting started.  The final 5% takes care of itself.  But simply saying “show up” is too generic.  

Put it on your calendar if you must.  

Wake up an hour earlier than you normally get up to work on it. 

Take it more seriously than anyone else, and then… take it even more seriously.  

If you don’t want it that bad it’s not for you in the first place, but by showing up regularly you can build habits.  And although habits are hard to build, they’re also hard to break.

Have (And Follow) A Real Plan.

This next one takes the motivation and the plan to show up and builds a way to put it all together in a meaningful way.  For the most part, don’t just start working on it. Grab an actual paper and pen and write a few things down. Think through the details.  Generate a day by day, month by month, or phase by phase set of work that has to happen for you to be successful. The idea here is that you make it easy and convenient to understand what is expected of you when you actually show up to get going.

Don’t stop there – identify milestones or celebratory moments for your progress, and track where you are with the project in real time.  I personally suggest sticky notes or a whiteboard – something you can have in front of you that’s easy to update and visible to your beautiful eyes as you start unraveling the body of work before you.  The reminders of where you are serve as momentum builders.

These milestones might grow in difficulty exponentially depending on what you’re working on.  Start easy and small. Break the work down into tiny pieces. If it’s a measure of progress, set milestones near and far from the project start to expose how quickly you’re moving.  Looking at an entire project as only the “Beginning” and “End” is sometimes too large of a scope to wrap our heads and arms around, and only serves to make the entire thing very unapproachable.  Smaller bodies of work with a common goal to work towards is easier to consume and tackle. Treat it as an elephant that has to be eaten one bite at a time. (If you’re a vegan, think of it as building Rome one day at a time!)

A word of caution around breaking up the work into smaller segments.  Don’t take on more than you can handle at once. It’s important to filter the work into your available bandwidth to avoid burning out.  If a subset of the work can be placed on hold for a bit, allow yourself to focus on only a single part of the work.  Laser focus on that until it’s done and then shift gears – this is usually much more efficient than taking on everything at once.

Design your system to serve you best as you stay committed.  If positive reinforcement is your thing, choose to reward yourself on some of the early milestones, no matter how small they are.  It boosts internal morale and gives you a fun goal to achieve that has little to do with the final product. It’ll help you fall in love with the work.

Commit To The First Ten Percent.

I mention the word “momentum” a lot because that’s key to everything beyond motivation.  Motivation fuels momentum-building. The hardest part of moving a boulder is starting out, but once it’s going it takes significantly less effort to keep it moving.  The same is true of our human spirits in the face of work.

If you’re searching for motivation and can’t find any, or you’re ready to show up but you can’t really build a plan since there’s too much you don’t know (or just plain don’t want to scope out), then commit to just starting.  Don’t even promise yourself the entire project, just hone in on getting roughly the beginning part of it done and then revisit the entire discussion once you reach that point.  I’d bet most of you will keep going, having found a plan and a motivation along the way.

Share.

This is one of my favorites.  If you really fear getting something done, figure out someone who can help.  People helping people serves to make a lot of projects more fun (though sometimes more frustrating), but also bolsters the motivation of accountability.

Not only that, but as problems, bumps, or milestones happen, there’s someone to spread the load or celebrate with going forward.  Not to mention the satisfaction of shared ownership. If a body of work is large or the project becomes complicated, remember the burden is now split with someone else.  If that wasn’t enough, the work might strengthen a bond or create new inside jokes as you pursue a common goal together. The benefits are endless!

Stop Starting. Start Finishing.

#go