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Doing things on the fly is never the answer đď¸
How many times have you struggled to resist the urge to just do a project, or better yet, just do it anyway?
If you donât have all the details around it ready, like what this project is for & how to do it⌠then youâre actually giving yourself more work.
More times than once, whether a project is exciting or I just want to get it over with, even though I feel like I can âjust wing it,â often Iâm not ready to get started.
Donât worry though, if you want to know how to start a project without letting it procrastinate, here are some strategies I use that may help.
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Plan ahead of time
This seems like it takes a lot of time, but it really isnât.
- Jot briefly what this project is for & about.
- Break the project down into tasks.
- Set up your timeline.
Not only does this cut half the busy work you spend wondering, âWhat am I doing?â But it helps you visualize whatâs needed to get done, helping you get it done quicker.
Strategize your steps
This seems the same as planning ahead, but itâs different in one way: saving time on small tasks not thought out thoroughly.
Many put together their overall plan and then get to work, but they miss out on understanding what tasks take longer than others.
For example:
Say youâre interviewing people in your community to write an article. You put together your plan for what you write, but you forget how long interviewing people will be â crucial, isnât it? This is because you havenât done it before and really donât know.
Your boss says that in addition to going on a meeting with a client in person, you need to bring your recorder to capture the tone of the client for an AI Voiceover (w/ his permission of course). You know where you have a recorder, but since you havenât done this before you forget to bring it.
Those were situations I thought of at the top of my head đ
To stop unexpected situations from happening, what you can do next time is to thoroughly strategize whatâs needed on each step, like items you may forget to bring, research how long certain tasks (like interviewing) take, etc.
Take initiative on your plan
Once you have your plan and strategization done, nowâs the fun partâŚ
Getting started on it!
Whether youâre excited or just ready to get it over with, taking a small bit of time on the previous helped you to probably save hours actually doing it now, instead of simply âwinging it.â