Break Big Scary Tasks Into Cute Small Tasks
Write your large goal out in one or two sentences, then start a bulleted list below, breaking it into as small of steps as you can possibly imagine. Like this:
GOAL
Write a blog post about making tasks less daunting.
STEPS
- Find laptop.
- Block an hour on the calendar for Saturday.
- Outline idea.
- Open JournoPortfolio.
- Type Idea out.
- Edit.
- Publish.
This is an especially beautiful way to get sh&t done if you tend to get interrupted a lot by coworkers, pets, kids, clients, etc.
With your broken-down list you have a handy quick reference to look at when you pick the task up again, after your interruption, and can hop back in quickly. You also get the sheer satisfaction of crossing off the cute easy to-dos that lead up to the big to-do. It may seem trivial, but try it and you'll see how motivating getting those small steps done can be.
