May's Organizing Tip
Finish What You Start
Are you that person who loves to start a new project, and another project, and another project? Or maybe you’re that person who has a huge list of projects or goals and you just can’t get around to starting any of them. Or perhaps you start something and then something interrupts you and it takes months to find the time to come back to it so you can call it done.
A lot of the struggle with getting things done comes from our inability to focus. There are actually millions of pieces of information coming at you all day long. Information from your physical surroundings, information from your phone and computer, information from other people and so on. Your brain does an amazing job of trying to filter out all of the information that it doesn`t think is important to you at any particular time.
The Reticular Activating System (RAS) filters all of this information and sends only a small percentage of it to your conscious mind while the rest goes to the subconscious. You might notice the clouds and trees and other cars on your way to work but your brain chooses to help you focus on what you will do when you get to the office. You don`t remember any of those things you saw and you may not even remember how you got to work because your brain was busy focusing on something else.
Your subconscious often takes over mundane tasks such as getting to work or sipping your morning coffee while your conscious mind focuses on what you tell it to. Difficulty focusing on starting or finishing an important project can mean that your conscious mind is full of all of the things you are currently putting your attention on. Incoming email and text messages, social media, the ringing phone, the conversation happening in the next room and so on. Here’s what you need to do.
Write, Tell, Read – write down exactly what it is that you want to accomplish and tell other people about it. In addition, read any information you can about other people accomplishing what it is you want to do. If you continue to do this your RAS will start to filter out other things and bring your attention to whatever it is you want to get started. You will start to notice things that you need in order to work on that project.
Take Action – no matter where you are starting from you can always take small steps in the direction of where you want to go. Tell other people each time you achieve a small step in the right direction, even if it means you simply gathered what you need in order to get started. Before you start taking action force yourself to raise your energy level. Get excited about what you are about to do, stand up and do a few seconds of stretching to fuel your energy. If you start something with higher energy, you will move it forward more quickly. You will feel good and you may be able to maintain enough energy to take another step, and so on.
Adjust for Obstacles – yes, there will be things that will get in your way as you try to work on completing a project. Think of it as if you are driving a long distance and there is an accident on the highway and then there is a construction detour. You don’t stop where you are because of this, you simply drive around the obstacle and keep heading to where you are going. Asking questions may be the best way to overcome an obstacle. Ask yourself, "Are the actions I’m taking right now getting me closer to where I want to go?" or "What do I have to do to fix this?". If you are really stuck ask yourself, "What question do I need to ask myself right now?" and wait for your brain to give you the answer.
Finish It – many people get to 70%, 80% or even 90% and stop without completing a project. You tell yourself that you have already done so much, you’ll finish the last little bit "later". If you continue to do this your brain will be programmed to believe that you don’t finish what you start. Instead you need to force yourself to finish each project 100% (done, not perfect) so that your brain comes to believe that you are a person who starts and finishes projects. Stop before starting something else and ask yourself, "Do I really want to start something new before I finish the project I’m working on?" The word "No" is a very powerful choice.
Your brain is designed to answer questions. If you ask yourself the right questions from the beginning to the end of any project or thing you want to accomplish, you will get the answers you need to get there. Even if you simply ask yourself, "What do I need to do right now?"
