{"id":862,"date":"2009-02-09T19:22:06","date_gmt":"2009-02-10T03:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/do-it-first-thing-every-day-how-to-tackle-any-project\/"},"modified":"2013-08-19T14:54:23","modified_gmt":"2013-08-19T22:54:23","slug":"do-it-first-thing-every-day-how-to-tackle-any-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/do-it-first-thing-every-day-how-to-tackle-any-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Do It First Thing, Every Day: How to Tackle Any Project"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><small><\/small><br \/>\n<small><em>Image courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/napix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">NaPix <\/a><\/em><\/small><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve got a lot of different things on the go. Some of them are New Years\u2019 resolutions that you\u2019re determined to stick with, this time. Some are projects that have dragged on for years \u2013 an unfinished novel in your bottom drawer, or the refurbishment of your basement. Others are things you\u2019ve started and given up almost straight away: these have left their legacy in the form of unread textbooks, boxes of craft materials, dusty computer gadgetry, never-played language CDs and more&#8230;<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019ve got any interest in personal development and self improvement, you probably have dozens of projects underway<\/strong> \u2013 and dozens more that you\u2019d like to get moving on. Your projects might include losing weight, getting fit, finding a life partner, changing career, learning a language, taking a post-graduate course, writing a book &#8230; and I\u2019m sure you can add to that list.<\/p>\n<p>Chances are, though, that however fired up you are about your projects when you first envisage them, you run out of steam pretty quickly, and things just don\u2019t get finished.<\/p>\n<p><strong>There\u2019s a simple way to guarantee forward progress on <em>any<\/em> long-term project that requires frequent attention:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Do it first thing, every day.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll notice that there are three different factors involved:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One project only<\/li>\n<li>First thing<\/li>\n<li>Every day<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(If the \u201cone project only\u201d isn\u2019t obvious, look at it this way; you can only do <em>one<\/em> thing first. Anything else has to come second&#8230;)<\/p>\n<p><strong>One Project<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Your first task is to decide what project you want to focus on. I know that you\u2019re thinking \u201cI want to do them all!\u201d or worse, \u201cI <em>need<\/em> to do them all\u201d. Isn\u2019t it better to be certain that you\u2019ll accomplish <em>one<\/em> of your projects, rather than being unsure whether you\u2019ll make meaningful progress on any of them?<\/p>\n<p>Here are a couple of questions you might want to ask yourself when picking your one big project:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Which of your projects would change your life?<\/li>\n<li>Which project would you like to look back on and say \u201cI did X, ten years ago\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hint: if you\u2019re dithering between \u201cspring clean the attic\u201d and \u201cwrite a book\u201d, I\u2019d suggest going for the latter!<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re still not sure, think about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you have a project near completion? (Where a couple of weeks of consistent effort could have it ticked off your to-do list for good.)<\/li>\n<li>What would you get most enjoyment from? (Remember, you\u2019re going to be sticking with this project every day for a while.)<\/li>\n<li>Which project would teach you a lot, even if you fail to ever finish it?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>First Thing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Why is it so important to make your project the <em>first <\/em>thing in your day? Think about how often you\u2019ve planned to get something done (perhaps writing a report at work, or an essay for school) \u2013 and how many times you\u2019ve found yourself dealing with a series of interruptions and distractions. Long-term projects are rarely urgent (though they may be far more important than the other things you\u2019re working on) \u2013 so it\u2019s easy for them to keep getting knocked down and down your to-do list.<\/p>\n<p>By making yourself tackle your project <em>first<\/em>, you\u2019ll find that there\u2019s miraculously time for it in your day. Everything else can wait, and the important things will still get done.<\/p>\n<p>If your project is work-related, make it the first thing you do when you get into the office or, if you work from home, when you first sit down at your desk (you can grab a coffee first \u2013 but no checking emails!) You might find that you need to get into work half an hour earlier to guarantee some uninterrupted time.<\/p>\n<p>If your project is a personal one, I\u2019d suggest that either:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You do it when you wake up \u2013 before breakfast if possible.<\/li>\n<li>You do it <em>straight<\/em> after work: either stay in the office and work on your project (if it\u2019s something like writing a book) or come home and get on with it \u2013 no switching on the TV.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Every Day<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many projects will succeed best if you get into the habit of working on them every single day. It\u2019s easy to kid yourself with a \u201cthree times a week\u201d or \u201cwhenever I find time\u201d pattern \u2013 <em>every day<\/em> doesn\u2019t allow for excuses.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re tackling a personal project like weight loss or writing a novel, I can tell you from personal experience that as soon as you let a day go by without working towards your goal, you\u2019ll find your momentum diminishing fast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in; margin-bottom: 0.14in;\"><em>With close to 100{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} daily consistency, a habit will typically maintain itself on autopilot, so you don\u2019t even have to think about it anymore. But with 80-90{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} consistency, the contrast between your on and off days is always in the back of your mind. Do I have to get up early tomorrow, or can I sleep in late? Do I need to exercise tomorrow, or can I skip it?<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" style=\"margin-left: 0.5in; margin-bottom: 0.14in;\">(<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevepavlina.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/how-to-maintain-not-quite-daily-habits\/\">How to Maintain Not-Quite-Daily-Habits<\/a><\/span><\/span>, StevePavlina.com)<\/p>\n<p>For work-related projects, tackling them every weekday is fine. If your project falls between the boundaries of work and personal (perhaps you\u2019re planning a career change, so you\u2019re researching your new career and working towards it outside your actual work hours), then you may need to put in some time at the weekend too.<\/p>\n<p><em>What long-term projects are you working on? Which do you plan to make your \u201cfirst thing, every day\u201d project \u2013 and why?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image courtesy of NaPix You\u2019ve got a lot of different things on the go. Some of them are New Years\u2019 resolutions that you\u2019re determined to stick with, this time. Some are projects that have dragged on for years \u2013 an &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/do-it-first-thing-every-day-how-to-tackle-any-project\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":12747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[17],"tags":[3092,259,3093,4634,2109],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do It First Thing, Every Day: How to Tackle Any Project<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You\u2019ve got a lot of different things on the go. Some of them are New Years\u2019 resolutions that you\u2019re determined to stick with, this time. Some are projects that have dragged on for years \u2013 an unfinished novel in your bottom drawer, or the refurbishment of your basement. Others are things you\u2019ve started and given up almost straight away: these have left their legacy in the form of unread textbooks, boxes of craft materials, dusty computer gadgetry, never-played language CDs and more...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/do-it-first-thing-every-day-how-to-tackle-any-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do It First Thing, Every Day: How to Tackle Any Project\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You\u2019ve got a lot of different things on the go. Some of them are New Years\u2019 resolutions that you\u2019re determined to stick with, this time. Some are projects that have dragged on for years \u2013 an unfinished novel in your bottom drawer, or the refurbishment of your basement. 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