The 3 possible reasons your projects aren't getting done
Everyone struggles. This is in itself not a problem. Struggle is important. In fact, I’d argue that without struggle, our lives would have no meaning.
When we exercise our bodies, we struggle, and we get stronger. When we exercise our minds, we struggle, and we get wiser and more knowledgeable.
But there’s a world of difference between struggling and being stuck. Struggling = the tow truck in first gear pulling the halfway submerged car out of a mud pit. Stuck = an engine disconnected from its transmission, the RPMs spinning wild and nothing happening.
So, when projects aren’t getting done, it’s not because we’re struggling. It’s because we’re stuck, and there are only 3 possible reasons for this. To get unstuck, the first step is figuring out which of these three reasons is the culprit.
Reason 1: I know what I have to do next, but the task is very daunting/overwhelming.
Reason 2: I’m not sure what I have to do next. It seems complicated and organizing it is hard.
Reason 3: I’m not sure what I have to do next, and honestly, I’m not even sure I want to figure it out.
Each Reason is very different and takes different work to resolve (spoiler, the last one is the hardest).
Reason 1: I know what I have to do next, but the task is very daunting/overwhelming
Great! You’re clear on the next step to get your project to done. You’re not in bad shape at this phase. “But,” you say, “You don’t know how hard this is!”
Okay, okay, it’s probably not great, but I can offer some clear guidance:
- If the next thing you have to do is daunting/overwhelming, first try and divide that thing into smaller things. What is the first initial thing you have to do? And if that still seems overwhelming, divide it again. Get to the point where you can identify the first physical action at the smallest, most atomic level. That’s the next thing you have to do. Nothing else.
- After you do that first thing, repeat. Figure out the next thing you have to do, at the smallest most atomic level. Now do that thing.
- It may not feel much to get something that small done, but it is the key. Many small things add up to big accomplishments.
I think a lot about real-life mountain climbers. They don’t stare at the top of the mountain. They look down at their feet. When the going is hard, they just focus on the next step. And then the next one. They almost never look at their destination, because it’s not helpful. Instead, all they have to do is take the next step. Every once in a while they need to look around, orient and navigate. But that’s a quick assessment and then it’s back to focusing on the next step. If they keep doing that, they will eventually get to the top of the mountain.
Reason 2: I’m not sure what I have to do next. It seems complicated and organizing it is hard
Okay! This is where people usually need the most help, and the answer relies on some fairly basic project and task management methods. Here’s my guidance:
- The first step for any project is to document a clear goal. Don’t think it. Write it down. You have to physically write or type it in the most accurate words you can. Take some time if needed, but this is a requirement. Because if you can’t express where you’re trying to go, you’re not going to be able to figure out how to get there. And if at the end of the day there is no clear goal, then there should be no project, and you should take whatever amorphous stress this is causing in your mind and throw it away. Let yourself be free of it.
- Once you have your goal clarified and documented, there are two possible next steps
- Start brainstorming all the individual tasks that have to happen to accomplish that goal. Write them all down as individual bullets or to dos. Don’t worry about organizing them. Don’t think about the order of them. Just get them all out of your brain. Keep going until there’s nothing else. Totally exhaust your mind of all the things that need to happen.
- If the things aren’t clear enough in your head to write them as tasks, then I recommend a mind mapping exercise. There are many mind mapping products on the market. I personally use MindNode, but the easiest and cheapest one is a paper and pencil. If you’re not familiar with mind mapping, you start with a central idea. In this case it’s your goal. From there you create branches of loose ideas related to that thing. Main categories become your main branches, and then you can break up those main branches into smaller branches. Get to as many branches and sub branches as you need, until you’ve gotten them all out of your head. Then look for clear actions. Try to re-label the branches and turn them into actions. Once you’ve done that, you have your list of tasks.
- Next, take each task and make sure it starts with a verb. Pretend you’re writing this task for a personal assistant who’s not in the loop and does not know what needs to be done. Be as clear, proscriptive, and transactional as possible.
- Try to order the tasks in a logical sequence. Figure out the order. At a minimum figure out the first one.
- Ignore everything except that first one. Then refer to Reason 1 above.
Reason 3: I’m not sure what I have to do next, and honestly, I’m not even sure I want to figure it out
Okay, well if the last one is it, that’s probably creating the other 2. So the key thing is to figure out how to get the psychic currents flowing with you instead of against you. If you’re reading this, there must be some part of you that wants to figure things out, even if there’s some other part of you that is scared. But here’s the key thing. It’s not a matter of will power, or somehow becoming a better more capable person. It’s just about riding the psychic currents in the right direction.
For all potential change, there are 4 underlying forces that dictate what happens: 2 forces of progress (desire for something new and pain of the present state) and 2 forces of resistance (anxiety of the new + inertia/comfort of the present). If the sum of the second 2 are stronger than the sum of the first 2, then this new thing will not happen. It doesn’t matter how much “will power” you do or don’t have, or how great or bad of a project planner you are. We’re all just surfing our own psychic currents. We have to want it more than we don’t want it.
This last bullet is the hardest because usually the best solution is either deep introspection or even working through it with a therapist to discover if it’s a thing we really want or we don’t.
As a digital life consultant, I’m honest about the fact that I can’t help with this last reason, but I can absolutely help with the first 2. So, if know what you want and you know that you want it, but you’re looking for more in-depth methodology and some custom consultation to help you get your projects to done, please reach out!