You know what you have to do. You’re anxious to get started. No problem being motivated. But what happens when the task you have to do seems so huge and overwhelming that you just don’t know where to start? In a related theme, what happens when you know where to start, but the task is so huge that the size itself is paralyzing you? In my job as an education administrator, part of my responsibilities call for me to observe and evaluate teachers in the classroom. Imagine being responsible for submitting 15 employee evaluations, each requiring a time investment of four hours that includes an hour of classroom observation, time for processing raw notes, drafting the final evaluation, and another hour for a post-observation conference in which the teacher gets meaningful feedback. While doing that, you’ve got disciplinary issues, parents who are angry at their child’s teacher, 100 emails per day, 20 – 30 phone calls per day, and 60 employees who all need a piece of you in addition to the myriad of meetings and conferences that are regularly scheduled. Oh, by the way, you only have 10 work days to get it all done. Yeah, I’ve been there too.
I felt paralyzed when I looked at what I had to do combined with all the other responsibilities that hounded me. It was hard to just get started because I knew the odds were against me completing everything on time. Sometimes, when I was able to get started, I was successful and nailed them all. Other times, I had to, in David’s terms, renegotiate my agreements. Still, other times, I had to just live with the stress that resulted when neither choice was possible. Of the three possibilities, it always seemed that the sooner I started, the more I was able to get done, which either helped me complete the assignment, or strengthened my bargaining position if renegotiation was necessary. So, here are some ways to get started when the task is just so damn big that you just freeze:
- Eat the Elephant – What’s the best way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Divide up your massive project/task (the elephant) into bite-sized pieces and do them one at a time.
- Focus – Write each individual task that makes up the project (elephant) on a separate 3X5 card. Yeah, it’ll fit right into your Hipster PDA. Work with only one card (the bite) at a time. This way, you don’t see the massive beast and you don’t panic.
- Delegate – …at least as much of it as you can. Pare down the beast by enlisting help (sort of like preparing a barbecue and inviting some friends). Remember Onken? Even if you don’t give it all away, the part you’re left with will be more manageable.
- Plan Ahead – As soon as the assignment is made, schedule the final due date, list the individual tasks that need to be done to complete the project, and project the amount of time required for each task. Then, starting with the due date, work your way backward to determine the start date. Go ahead and schedule those tasks into your calendar. It’s funny how much easier it is to get started when you can see that it is actually possible to finish on time.
- Eat Your Frog – Your frog is the worst part of the job; the part that you dread and, because of which, you avoid starting. Do it first and the rest will just melt away. It’s said if you have two frogs to eat, eat the ugliest one first. It has also been said (Mark Twain, I believe) that if you have to eat a frog, it’s best not to look at it too long.
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