So, you have a big job staring you in the face.  You know from your most recent goal setting session that this task will really jump start your efforts toward achieving something that is important to you.  But days, weeks and maybe even months drift by and you make little or no progress.

 

You keep asking yourself, “How do I get unstuck and just get started on this?”

 

Here are three easy ways to break this mental logjam and get moving again on big, important goals.

 

Method #1 – “Slice it Thin”

The “Slice it Thin” method is best summarized by the quote from the famous Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu who said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

 

This method works best on big projects that can easily be broken up into small pieces.  Any task becomes much less intimidating when we break it down into smaller and smaller bite-sized chunks.  Here’s how to get started.

 

Take out a sheet of paper and spend 5-10 minutes writing down everything that needs to happen to complete this job.  Break each of these tasks down into as small a unit as possible (making a phone call, writing an email, buying a book on Amazon to learn more about the topic, etc.)

 

Choose the smallest of these tasks and make a commitment to yourself to complete this task within the next 24 hours.  Once you complete one of these tiny tasks, pick another one off the list and complete it within a day.

 

Keep doing this and you’ll be amazed at how quickly these little things add up into significant progress against a big job.

 

Method #2 – “Punch It Out”

Close your eyes and imagine a sheet of paper.  Now imagine taking a single hole punch, sliding it onto the page and clipping a single hole out of the paper.  Then think about doing this two times, then ten times or even a hundred times.

 

What will start to happen?  Each of these uniform little holes will eventually make the piece of paper start to go away and eventually will make it disappear completely.

 

Now, open your eyes and think about the tasks you are facing.  You can get unstuck by thinking of your goal as the piece of paper and by imagining that every five minutes you spend on this project is like punching a small hole in the piece of paper.

 

Get started with the “Punch It Out” method by committing to spend just five minutes a day every day for the next week on your big task.  Once you sit down and get started, you’ll often find that the first five minutes wasn’t so bad and you may even choose to do more.

 

Pretty soon, that piece of paper is going to look like Swiss cheese and the list of things you need to do will be gone in no time!

 

Method #3 – “Box It Up”

Did you ever notice that when you are facing a firm deadline, you rise to the challenge and get the job done?  Sure you may need to stay up late or temporarily set things aside, but you find a way to get creative and make things happen in order to meet that deadline.

 

You can use this same process and tap into this same well of resourcefulness and creativity by setting self-imposed, time-bound limits on big tasks.

 

The “Box It Up” method is particularly useful if you have lots of competing priorities for your time (which we all do) or if you sometimes have the habit of spending too long trying to make things perfect rather than being satisfied with well done so that you can move on to other tasks.

 

You can “Box It Up” one of two ways:

• either by setting a deadline for completion, or
• by setting a maximum amount of time you’ll spend on something.

 

Simple examples include:

 

“I will finish updating my resume for the new career that I’m considering by next Friday,” or

 

“I will spend no more than five total hours planning our next family vacation.  Other family members can take on some of the responsibility, or, at worst, we will treat it like an adventure and wing it for a few days on our trip!”

 

Your Assignment

Choose one of your personal goals.  Think about the specific actions you know you need to take to move toward this goal.  What are those actions associated with this goal that you’ve been putting off?  Jump start your efforts and get unstuck by employing one of these three methods today!

 

Method 1: “Slice It Thin” and complete the next smallest, discreet step in the project.

Method 2: “Punch It Out” and spend 5 – 10 minutes every day working in the project.

Method 3:  “Box It Up” and define deadlines or maximum times for the project.

 

Then enjoy the feeling of making progress!