I came across an article this morning before I posted that last blog post. (2 blog posts in one day? WTF?)
The article hit the nail on the head for me and my “crazy ass scoped projects”… How to Actually Execute Your To-Do List: or, Why Writing It Down Doesn’t Actually Get It Done
This one fits me to a tee…
REASON #2 – “I am terrified of certain tasks, or of working on certain projects.”
There are usually a few reasons those tasks or projects terrify you:
They are too intimidating in size or scope. To combat this, break it down into tinier chunks — actually, just the first tiny chunk (as David Allen tells us to do in GTD). It’s intimidating to do a task like “Create report on X” or “Make a yearly plan for Z”. But if you just need to do the first physical action, which might be, “Call Frank for figures on X” or “Make a list of 10 things we should accomplish this year”, it’s much easier to tackle and less intimidating.
>>> OMG! Right on the head… can you say storyhelpers anyone?
You don’t really know how to do it. If you haven’t done something a million times before, it is unfamiliar and unknown to you. And we are all terrified of that. The solution? First, get more information — learn as much as you can about it. That might require some research on the Internet, or talking to someone who’s done it before, or reading a book, or taking a class. Whatever you need to do, make the unknown become the known. Second, practice it as much as possible. Once you’ve learned how to do something, you need to practice it to become good at it. Don’t practice the whole thing — practice individual skills required to do a task or project, one at a time, until you’re good at those skills. Once you’ve mastered them, it will no longer be terrifying.
>>> I am the queen of research… I research until I am so overwhelmed with all the options that I just don’t do it… I can spend hours researching something… case in point – scripts for portfolio/gallery showings… I wanted to completely automate the portfolio to make adding additions easier but in the master plan to find this “automation” and still have a unique portfolio style I found nothing of what I really I wanted… hours wasted and I still hardcoded it… sorry Jeanine.
You are focusing on negative aspects. You might be focusing on how hard something is, or on all the obstacles. Try looking at the positive aspects instead. Focus on what a great opportunity this project represents … an opportunity to learn, to get better at something, to make more money, to work on a relationship, to gain some long-term recognition, to improve your advancement opportunities. This is similar to the “get excited about it” item in the previous section. If you look at the opportunities, not the problems, you will be less terrified and more likely to want to do it.
>>> Negative? Who me??? LOLOLOL! Terrified? Who me??? With me “negative” always equates to “perfect”. I am a perfectionist at heart and if it can’t be what I am envisioning it just doesn’t get done.
Wow! It’s hard putting all this out there…. admitting you are not perfect even if only to yourself (and my one reader.. lol!)
My first step to recovery… admitting I have a problem.
My #1 phobia – “Fear of the ridiculously out of scope heavily researched project before even starting that leads to further procrastination and eventual depression after seeing all the similar projects that have been already been done better than you could do hence why even start the project at all.”
There I said it. whew… I feel better now. I think… maybe I need a little research… lol! 😉