Break Your Problem Into Bits
When a problem seems to big to solve, just break it into smaller bits and it will be easier to deal with.
Like a piece of mosaic, each individual piece becomes a part of a much larger picture. If you can break your big challenge into smaller, compartmentalized parts they will appear less intimidating and feel more manageable.
A large project is rarely a single massive item you have to complete. It is usually composed of a bunch of smaller to-do tasks, each one dependent on the other in order to successfully accomplish your goal.
Take a piece of paper and write them name of your big scary project at the top of the page.
Now begin listing all the individual elements that need to be addressed in order to complete the project. List each item on it’s own line. You don’t have to try and put them in any order — just create a massive brain dump of all the individual to-do items that you can think of.
Look at the large list and see if there are any individual tasks that can be broken into smaller pieces.
A line item like “Create a landing page” could be broken into smaller tasks like writing the promotional copy, finding images to use on the page, collecting client testimonials, recording a video, etc.
At this point you can begin to see connection between the tasks and a natural order of priority may begin to emerge. Take all the individual tasks and sub-tasks and recording them into a digital document using bullet points or check boxes. You can use something as simple as Google Docs or a more dedicated project tracking software like Trello, Asana, or Workflowy.
Don’t forget to look for list items that you can delegate to others in order to prevent overwhelm and use your time more efficiently.
Review your master list and add completion deadlines. Add those deadlines to your Google Calendar or other scheduling app.
Your big project may still appear to be a lot of work (anything worthwhile is), but now you should feel like you have a plan… a place to start and a path to follow to the finish.
