Do you ever find yourself at the beginning of a project and not knowing where to begin? Leaving an unwritten document open, while contemplating a second rooibos tea?
Starting a project can be challenging. These projects might include developing a workshop, writing a new policy document, completing an essay, or pursuing a PhD.
Over the years I’ve practised this skill. It is still a hustle but I’m no longer leaving projects to 10pm the night before they are due. I still get nightmares from when I was in 1st year at university. I would always have to sprint to the physical submission box to submit my printed-out essay just before 5pm!
If you’re struggling with this process, I’ve compiled a few ideas that might help you. Let me know in the comments if any of them work for you – or if I missed any helpful ideas!
1. Set up your workspace
The first thing a chef does prior to crafting culinary masterpieces is to set up their station. This means cleaning their bench and cooking area, sharpening their knifes, and sorting their ingredients. If you’re struggling to start, do a quick tidy of your desk. This will help you fill like you’re more in control. Don’t get carried away – we’re all guilty of ‘procasticleaning’!
When writing a document or report, set this up as well. Input all the headings and subheadings into the document. This will make you feel like you’ve already began. By having the headings already in the documents, when you come back to that report you won’t have to “start”, and it will just be a matter of time before you’re in flow.
2. Decide on an organising system
How will you capture tasks to be done or ideas? It is helpful to have this sorted at the start. I use a myriad of different tools for different purposes:
- Asana: For capturing tasks to be completed.
- Microsoft Onenote: For capturing meeting minutes and keeping a journal of reflections
- Endnote: For keeping an inventory of academic articles (I’m a PhD Candidate)
- Notion: For creating a database of notes on each of my academic article
- Miro: For creative brainstorming and working out the flow of workshops and classes (I also facilitate and lecture)
- Keep note: For capturing ideas on my phone
This list isn’t exhaustive. The key is not to find the one perfect tool to rule them all. The tools I listed above are working for me. I know that I could probably use Notion instead of Asana and OneNote for my tasks and minutes, but it would take me a while to learn, time spent away from my PhD.
Beware of obsessing over the perfect organisational system. It is far better to have a finished project and an imperfect organising system then an incomplete project with a perfect organising system. Organising yourself can quickly become another form of procrastination. It can also lead to decision fatigue as there are so many experts sharing the best way to manage your work.
Incorporate reflection at the end of your projects and consider how you can improve your organisational system. With each project you will make small adjustments making your process more effective and efficient.
Contrary to what I’ve written above, Dave Crenshaw suggests that we should reduce the number of gathering points for our ideas and tasks. I see his method as the ideal, but in reality, I believe if your system has worked so far and isn’t causing you stress, it’s probably well-adjusted to your needs. Read his view here.
3. Explore frameworks to assist you with the creative process
Design thinking is one framework that could help you. I’m particularly fond of the double diamond as a process to enable creativity and innovation. The double diamond starts with the discover stage. This is where you do your research to better understand the problem space.
If you’re feeling stuck, interview people who have experience in the area you are working on or are affected by the problem you are trying to solve. This will help you get out of your head and clear any biases. If you’re extraverted it can also be a good motivation boost as I typically find these sorts of conversations inspiring. It can be inspiring as they will share things you never would have considered on your own.
My early informal interviews have helped me narrow my focus and motivate me with my PhD. I consider angles to my problem space that I’d never have considered if it were just me and a bunch of journal articles.
If you’re interested in a basic explanation of the double diamond, Dan Nessler provides an overview in this article. Also click here to explore resources about the double diamond from the British Design Council.
4. Find someone to hold you accountable
This is particularly important for self-directed tasks. My sister Kate Solly is a published author of the novel “Tuesday Evenings with the Copeton Craft Resistance”. Early in the process of writing, she was struggling to keep motivated. When she shared this with my other sister Felicity, Felicity offered to be her editor. Before the end of every month Kate would email Felicity a draft of what she had written. Felicity would ask questions of what she wrote, and Kate would send an update. Kate knew that Felicity was expecting an email at the end of each month which prompted her to have something ready every month.
Another accountability method is the idea of parallel working. This is where you work alongside someone else. At the start of the hour, you’ll say what you’re working on and at the end you share what you’ve done (both in 5-minute short conversations). Some websites even facilitate this process by connecting you with a stranger for a video call.
Write a to-do list and then prioritise what is most important for you to work on
When trying to complete multiple projects it can be difficult to know where to start. I like to write down all the things I need to get done and then prioritise these in order of when I’ll complete them. Then I look at the list and consider, what are the most important tasks and what are the most urgent. Finally I order my tasks based on importance and urgency. The beauty of a tool like Asana is you can type the tasks and then print them off. Then you can use this print out as your to-do-list adding items to it. After a little while you can then go back to the online version and update it.
Work out a daily rhythm that suits you
The challenge with self-directed creative work is that it’s easy to give precedence to work that has clear deliverables or deadlines. For example, I find it much easier to plan my next lecture than work on my PhD. To counter this I have started waking up early (5:30am). After shaking off my grogginess, making a green tea and doing some short journalling – I have a solid hour where I can focus on reading or writing for my PhD.
What I like about waking up earlier is the quality of my reading and writing are clearer. I don’t get distracted, and I feel a deep sense of satisfaction that I’ve completed something so early. This was also inspired by my sister Kate who wrote much of her novel in the early hours while her children were sleeping. She would wake up early and go to a café or write in her car.
Become curious about your day: when are you most focused, and when are you least focused?
Create a sh*tty first draft
It’s ok for your first draft to be terrible. My first go at this article it was waffly and directionless. When starting, tell yourself “this is a sh*tty first draft” and that later you will come back to make it better. This frees you to just be a writer rather than also being an editor. This same principle applies to every project; your first attempt is an experiment. Release some of that pressure. By embracing imperfection you’ll be able to achieve more.
Just do 20 minutes
If I really can’t be bothered, I’ll tell myself I’m just going to do 20 minutes. I set my alarm and get going. What I usually find is that after 20 minutes I’ve usually got the momentum, motivation and energy to continue.
Ask your helpful AI companion
AI tools (such as ChatGPT or BingChat) are your highly intelligent but ignorant intern. Intelligent as it can write very clearly and has access to most of the internet If you’re stuck for ideas. But ignorant because in its efforts to please you, it will often invent information or even make up completely false references.
If you’re allowed to utilise the tool it can be helpful to see what AI thinks.
I typically find one good idea among everything it shares. The key is to then dismantle what has been written and incorporate the idea with your own ideas and writing styles.
Otherwise, you’re just regurgitating an amalgamation of the internet out to the world (rather than sharing something written with your own voice).
You can also share your writing with AI and get feedback. I shared my second draft of this blog post with ChatGPT to see if it had any feedback. This was helpful, plus had some good ideas that I hadn’t included (I’ve included the idea + my reflections):
- Mind Mapping: Doing a mind map in your initial stages helps to get everything out of your mind and can help make sense of the project in a non-linear way. As mentioned above I often use Miro. Miro is great for collaborative projects as you can all work on the same board. However it’s also nice to do a mind map with pen and paper at a café or somewhere separate to where you usually work. Switching up your location can help with the creativity.
- Break it Down: You may be overwhelmed by your project because you’re looking at the whole thing. As they say the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Having a clearer and more achievable task list will help you feel more motivated to start.
- Set Deadlines: To build momentum set deadlines for yourself. When I was younger the only deadline I’d rely on, was the due date. But you can set artificial deadlines for yourself if you need that pressure.
Conclusion
By following these strategies, you’ll be able to overcome the obstacle that’s preventing you from starting your important project.
Sometimes we just need to trick the brain to feel like it’s made progress. By setting up your document with headings, understanding that it’s just a sh*tty first draft or chatting with an AI friend – it might be enough to build momentum. Because really, it’s just about that, building enough momentum that then fuels your motivation.
I’d love to hear from you, how do you start projects and what keeps you motivated to complete them?
I write about self development and innovation. Check out my article about strategies and resources to explore your career. Thanks for checking out my blog. Let me know in the comments what else you’d like to read about!
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash