How To Get Started On Any Project

If you recently made it through a very busy time of life… are you feeling relaxed, rested, and completely “caught up” on life?

I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you reading today are still feeling TOO BUSY.

Maybe you said ‘yes’ one to many times.

Maybe you took on more than you can handle within your job, your church, your school, your community.

Maybe you agreed to something you later realized you don’t have the time or energy to fulfill.

Maybe you’re in the middle of a large home renovation and feeling the stress of living in the mess (I can relate).

Maybe you’re just worn out from last year and still trying to play catch-up.

We’ve all been there before — even me, the stickler for saying “no” and exercising good time management!!

RELATED POSTS ON SAYING “NO”

• A Post for Anyone Who Struggles to Say “No”
• Saying “No” Shows Respect
• Say “No” Without an Explanation
• Do Your “Yeses” Match Your Season Of Life?
• Because You CAN Have Too Much of a Good Thing

Yes, I know what it feels like to be “too busy”, I know what it feels like to have more to-do list than time… and I also know that in those situations, I’m even less likely to get started on any sort of project as it all feels too overwhelming.

I’ll put off the laundry because I don’t want to have one more thing looming over me that day… but then the laundry gets piled up and seems even more overwhelming.

I ignore my inbox because I have other things to do… but then my email gets out of control and feels even more overwhelming.

I tell myself I’ll weed the planting beds next week… but by then, there are twice as many weeds and I really don’t have time to do that much weeding, so it gets put off again.

It’s a vicious cycle that I thankfully don’t find myself in all that often these days, due to the simple, yet effective way I FORCE myself to get started on all those things I really don’t want to do (yes, even after all these years, I still have to force myself!)

My Simple Solution = I Do ONE Thing

I dust the living room.

I shove clothes in the washing machine.

I grill the chicken.

I make the phone call.

I respond to the email.

I pull the weeds.

I pick up the toys.

I file the papers.

I clean out the dishwasher.

I load the donations in my car.

I make the grocery list.

I set the time for 15 minutes and do SOMETHING.

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Yup, it’s a simple solution… but it works for me, and it has worked for years and years (way back into high school).

An object in motion stays in motion.

An object at rest stays at rest.

You’ve all most likely heard and experienced Newton’s First Law in your own life — and that’s what makes my simple solution of doing ONE thing work so well! (Who knew you’d get a Physics lesson today!)

By simply FORCING yourself to do ONE thing from your to-do list right now (you WILL have to force yourself), you’ll start that “motion” process. 

Once you complete your “one thing”, you’ll be moving in the right direction, which will make it exponentially easier to continue “moving” in the right direction (a.k.a. completing more tasks from your list).

As you build momentum, it will be easier and easier to keep working, to keep moving, to keep pushing forward on your projects, to keep crossing things off your to-do list.

Hooray! 

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On the other hand, if you continue to procrastinate and put things off “until later”, you’ll be even more likely to continue doing nothing as you’ll essentially be “an object at rest”.

You know as well as I do that procrastination often causes stress, which often encourages more procrastination, which then causes more stress and more procrastination… definitely not ideal.

Doing ONE thing will stop the stress – procrastination – stress cycle!

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Implement Newton’s First Law in your home, your work, and your life today… you might just be surprised how useful Physics can be! 

What “one thing” will you do to get “in motion” and get started?