When it comes to your half-finished projects, do you often think “They’re all important”?
Or “They all have to get done”?
These thoughts might sound innocent, but they’re likely creating a lot of angst for you.
Let’s play it out.
When you think the thought “They’re all important” or “They all have to get done,” about your projects, it probably creates a feeling of overwhelm, panic, or confusion.
When you feel overwhelmed, panicked, or confused, chances are that you dabble in all of your projects, you don’t prioritize, you don’t make clear decisions, and you don’t calmly assess if you can in fact take all of them on. This leads to procrastination and maybe eventually full-out inaction on all of them.
So the pressure-fueled thought “They’re all important” has created this backfiring result: You end up treating none of them as important.
The thought “They all have to get done” almost guarantees that none or very few of them get done—and likely in a way that feels crappy.
Take a minute to let that sink in: The thoughts “They’re all important” and “They all have to get done” might be true, but they’re rarely helpful.
But it’s solvable.
Here are some ways to reframe this thought process:
“I’m going to re-evaluate and find out what’s truly the highest priority right now.”
“I’m going to find out if I could make it all work.”
“When I’m clear on what I want from my projects (time, money, social capital, impact, or positive emotions), what my project priorities become more clear.”
“I’m willing to prioritize anything in order to move forward on something.”
“It’s possible that I can make any of them the right project.”
“The right project is the project that gets done.”
And here’s a powerful question: “If I had to choose one top priority, what would it be and why?”
If you’d like tools for figuring out your top priorities, sorting out what you can realistically get done in a given week, and then following through, my program Half-Finished to Done, LIVE is for you.
Your journey starts with the next round of Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, the program for those who want to master a sustainable, fun, repeatable project process and start enjoying life as a project finisher.
Click here to get started.
P.S. This was posted by a client in Week 6 of 8 in the program. Here’s what happens when you take on your projects in a new way:
“I’ve made a huge amount of progress, which has resulted in a better work product, produced in less time and in a much better emotional state, and more rest and relaxation once I’m done with work. (Yay!)”
