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Feel Like You’re Not Getting Anything Done? Small Victories Can Help…

By , on Monday, January 22nd, 2007

I don’t know about you, but many of the items on my project list are pretty monstrous. The kind of thing I look at during my weekly review and feel just a little ill. This is especially true of my projects at work, many of which will take several weeks to complete. It can really take the wind out of your sails when you spend a full day working on something and make very little progress.

Because of this looming cloud that tends to develop over my head, I’ve sought refuge in the hands of the small victory. Whenever I’m feeling particularly unproductive, I find something easy on my lists; something I can hammer out in a few minutes, and glory in the swift, deliberate stroke of my pen as I strike it off. A couple of those and I’m ready and raring to attack the problem project with the vigor of a thousand tigers. Well, maybe more like 250…

David Allen actually mentioned something like this during his interview with Merlin Mann when he talked about how you could tell he was putting off a big project by how great his house looked. I feel the same way, except I don’t view it so much as an escape as I do a mental preparation for “the big one”

Anybody else have any strategies for dealing with a real pain-in-the-ass project?

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  • http://gtd.marvelz.com/blog gtdfrk

    I know the feeling all too well! I have a huge list of projects and a long list of things I want to do someday/maybe. But I’m wondering (I know you are 100% analog when it comes to GTD), doesn’t your list of next actions become equally large as well? And therefore perhaps unmanageable especially when you use a single index card for every next action? Just curious how you’re coping with that…

  • brett

    I actually use one line (or two, if necessary) of an index card for each next action. All told, my NA lists total about 9 cards for all of my contexts. So, it’s not too cumbersome, thankfully!

  • http://successbooks.blogspot.com Manny

    If I understand it correctly, you accomplish your “small victories” by tackling small projects, and working up to the big one. I tend to use self-talk to tackle a super-small piece of the actual big project. Then, if the small piece gets done, I might do more on the big project than I intended. Sometimes I find there is real creativity in coming up with that “small piece” of the big project.Something I think I am really ready to do. But…anything that will sit me down and get me started! Another technique is a “reward” for the first 15 minutes of work (coffee, a cookie, a nap, etc).

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