Most people have a hard time getting things done. If you’re one of those people, don’t beat yourself up about it too much, it’s a sure sign you’re human.
I’ll let you in on a secret: the surest way to get something done is to do just that thing. Every day. And nothing else.
I know. Duh.
Let’s suppose you want to build a rich website to support your new photography business. You can get that done pretty quickly by just working on that website – and nothing else – for just a few days.
More complex projects will take longer, but the same rule applies. If you want to get it done, just do that one thing every day and nothing else.
Pretty obvious, right?
But but WAITAMINNIT! you exclaim, I have other things that have to get done too! I can’t just do one thing every day!
Ok, let’s modify: you can get two things done by doing both of those things every day. Suppose in addition to your product site for your photography business you also want to train for an upcoming triathlon. You can spend half the day working on the site and half the day prepping for the tri.
You can see where this is going. This logic extrapolates out to n projects, but naturally the larger n is, the slower each project will advance. And the greater the chance you’ll get overwhelmed and start postponing projects.
Usually the first things to be postponed are the tasks that are the most complex. Our schedules usually fill up with urgent crap that demands our attention RIGHT NOW, and we oblige, which leaves little to no time for the complicated stuff. And it’s the complicated stuff that typically yields big benefits.
So the surest way to drive a project to completion, to achieve a goal, or to realize a dream is to focus only on that thing, preferably first thing in the morning, every day.
Why “first thing in the morning”? Because you want to get that important work done before the urgent stuff starts screaming for your attention like an indignant 3-year-old.
And “every day” because that is how large, complex things get done. If you work 12 hours on something, then come back to it a few days later, then next week, then maybe the week after that, it ain’t gonna get done.
Reevaluate what you want to get done in your life and pick the one thing that will have the biggest effect. One. And work on it every day, before you do anything else.