Have you ever procrastinated a project because it was too overwhelming?

Me too.

Today I’ll share how I overcame it.

P.S. yesterday, we learned about aligning your actions with your values (catch up on previous posts here and leave a comment).

Tell someone you’re going to do something

I made a post on my social media saying I was going to do this 30 day challenge, starting on May 1.

Before, I always wanted to run a challenge like this (even back in February).

But I made excuses:

• It’ll take hours to write 30 days of content

• I’ll have to promote it and build everything out (automated emails)

Finally, I forced myself to take action by publicly announcing what I was going to do.

That made me actually start doing the work…

And it didn’t take as much time as I thought I would.

I didn’t write all 30 days of content at once.

Which leads me to my next tip…

Do 10 minutes of it every day

It takes me 10 - 15 minutes every night to write these emails.

Then I schedule it the next morning.

Notice the difference:

• In February, I felt like running a challenge would take too long to set up all at once (hours writing all the emails), so I did nothing for 3 months

• In May, I took it step by step: wrote 1 email per day

At the end of each month, it was clear what I accomplished:

• February: nothing (no emails written, felt too overwhelming)

• May: 30 days of emails (if I stay consistent with this challenge)

What does this mean for you?

Step 1: Publicly commit to something so you feel accountable.

This can mean replying to my email telling me about your goals, or just sharing them with someone you know - even a journal.

Step 2: Do a little bit every day so it’s not overwhelming.

Focus on just getting that thing done; for me it’s writing 1 email.

I might make an app for this 👀 

I get overwhelmed by big projects.

I want a to do list app that breaks down those projects for me in bite-sized chunks.

Example: I want to make a YouTube video

The to do list creates steps for me based on best practices it researches:

• Write hooks + outline (it lists out best practices and can help me make a draft, so it’s easier to start)

• Write script

• Film

• Edit

• Create thumbnail

• Create description

• Upload

• Promote

All I have to do is edit drafts or check off the tasks as I do them. It’s always clear what my next step is so I don’t get distracted.

If you’d be interested in something like this, reply and let me know your thoughts? (I wanna know if you’d find it useful or if you know of any other apps that do this.)

See you tomorrow!

Jennifer