Projects – Le KrocK

Micro-planning

What is this? It is about constantly decomposing bigger tasks into smaller ones in order to always have something easy to do. This method may not be useful to everyone, but for some of us, being in front of a big task makes us freeze, and even possibly pushes us toward doing something else because the task seems too intimidating.

So by decomposing the big task into really small ones, it becomes a lot easier to choose one and do it right away, and then do another one, and another one, and so on. And if some small task still seems like too much, decompose it into smaller tasks, small enough that they seem trivial. That way we can finally get some progress on complicated stuff.

It is a way to alleviate the fear of doing something that is too hard or too long. And it can also give a stronger feeling of accomplishment, because instead of having simply worked on some vague and small part of a big project, we see it as having completed many tasks about the project. The advancement is much clearer that way, and it feels motivating to know that actual parts of the project are done, rather than just knowing that we put some incalculable work into it.

The blocking element

This is just a name I made up, it probably has a real name, but anyway I needed a title. The blocking element, as I call it, is a task, a desire, a thought, or just a possible action that you constantly have on your mind and which you’re not doing. It seems to be closely related to procrastination. I feel it all the time, that “I have to do …, but before I have to do …”. You have a task A, that you wait for the right time to accomplish it, and you have task B, which relies on the completion of A, and maybe you have C that relies on A and/or B and so on. So if you’re still following up to here, the blocking element is task A, and will become task B once the first is done and so on. I’m pretty sure it’s human nature to have more projects than time to accomplish them, so to me the problem isn’t the projects and ideas themselves but more of how we can be able to take as much as we can out of our head and put them in real life.

It can be anything, for me it can be as simple as to say that I can’t play video games if I haven’t at least written a few lines on an article. Or it can be more complex like not being able to put as much effort as I want into my training program because I work too much and I’m too tired. And it can be a lot more complex, these are just example that came to me at the moment.

There is two categories, one that you have power on, and the other that you don’t. The two examples above are totally in my control. I could decide to concentrate and write an article, then play video games, or play video games first then write. For the second, I also have the choice, I could just find an easier job, or ask my boss to reduce my workload, or I could change my workout plan to make it fit better with my current lifestyle. These are not necessarily easy choices to make, but they are in your reach nonetheless. But we don’t have the power over everything, let’s say you want to be a graphic designer but you don’t have the qualifications to get a job in this field. So unless you managed to become really skilled by yourself and being also able to prove it to potential employers, you’ll have to go to art school to get a degree proving that you can actually do the job. In that case, “task A: getting an art degree” is required before “task B: find a graphic designer job” and you can’t make it faster than the actual time it takes to do take the degree. I won’t talk about this particular one because there is nothing else to do than wait.

What I have more interest in, is what we can actually change. I didn’t find any magic trick to allow myself to procrastinate less and act more, I think it’s mostly just a matter of self-discipline and I can’t really give advice about that.

Remember that scene from one of Harry Potter’s movies where he has to catch a flying key? I feel like all my ideas and tasks are floating around in my head like those keys. I now try to write most of these ideas somewhere so it feels less like a mess and I can concentrate more on doing than worrying.

I noticed that when I wait for something to happen, nothing moves and nothing happens, but when I finally decide to act (understand here: do task B before task A), everything seem to just fall in place. Maybe not in the way I first thought it would, but it comes to an end anyway and this is what’s important, to get things done. I’ll give you an example that happened not long ago. So I was looking to find a programming job, and seeing that there wasn’t much choice where I live, I sent an application for a job in a city far enough so that I would have to move there if I got the job. I got a phone interview and then 2-3 weeks passed without news. At that moment I just thought that they chose someone else. But the thing is that I was waiting on this to decide if I was to renew my lease for the apartment I am currently living in. I finally just said to myself “f**t it I’ll stay here another year”, signed the renew form, and you know what? The next day I got a email from the company.

Take it any way you want, whether it could just have been bad luck or a sign from the universe that I wasn’t meant to go there, I made a choice and acted towards it, and the block was cleared. I can now concentrate on another blocking element, and another, and another, etc, until I die. But don’t go thinking that blocking elements are only related to “formal” things like paperwork and “adult” tasks and responsibilities. If for example, you’re a musician, and are telling yourself something like “When I’ll be good enough at playing my instrument, I’ll play in a band”, you’re blocking yourself too. Because there is no such thing as “being good enough to…”. Practicing will make you better, of course, and so is playing in a band, for totally different reasons. There is musicians of every level so you have the possibility to find people at the same level as you and there can even be some people willing to give you a chance anyway, you have to try.

In the end, the amount of blocking elements you’ll be able to clear is proportional to what you’ll be able to accomplish. The more you’ll clear blocks, the more you’ll move forward to your goals and the more you’ll give yourself the chance to reach success in the things that are important to you.

Procrastination

Like a lot of people, I master the art of procrastination. It sometimes seems to be the most effective way to get things done. For perfectionist people, it can be a better approach to avoid wasting time by getting too deep into the subject. The stress it gives you can also help you keep focus and work faster. I think that procrastination have benefits in some cases, but not all.

I’m convinced that it works for things that have a precise ending in time, because you know that the task will be done before due date whether you procrastinate or not, but what if the project doesn’t have an end date? If we’re talking about a project or dream that you want to accomplish, there’s no date. You can procrastinate endlessly, which in that case isn’t good if you want to get something done during your lifespan.

This is the hard part, nothing/nobody is pushing you to do something about it and the consequences are unclear, so you have to motivate yourself. More often than not, you’re stuck at the beginning, maybe you’re scared about it, or maybe you don’t know where to start. If you’re just scared, feel free to read my article about fear, it could help you. If you don’t know where to start, my best advice would be to start by gathering information about what you’re about to do so you’ll get a good understanding of the subject and at the same time confirm that you’re still interested in it. Once you know the subject, start with whatever you think is a good place to begin with, you can follow the advice of experts or just go with what you feel is the better for you, everybody is different so there is no predefined path, especially for creative and spiritual activities. If you want to actually make a living out of the activity, I think that you should do it your own way, it will make you stand apart from the rest.

Maybe you also need more money to invest in some equipment or material, sadly I can’t help you much with this one. Beside reorganizing your priorities to waste less money, you’ll have to work your way to get some kind of loan or just work more. It’s not nice but it’s the best I can say for now, I still have to do this myself too. When I’ll find a better way, I’ll tell you!

So, to keep your motivation, here’s a few tips I use:

Remember that the sooner you’ll start, the sooner you’ll get results.
Write your aspirations somewhere and read them whenever you get the chance so you’ll keep your goals in mind.
Visualize yourself proud at the end of it and seeing the good it will bring to you.
Don’t let too much time slip between every session that you’re working on your project, because time kills momentum. I try to work every day or every 2-3 days on my projects, that way I don’t have to remember all the project each time because it is still fresh in my mind and it doesn’t seem like a mountain everytime I come back to it.

Ok, the next two tips are contradictory but I found that they work for me each in their own way even if they are completely opposite:

Surround yourself with ambitious people that have the same kind of goals as you. Seeing close people having success in their life (and being happy) will motivate you to do like them and reach your own goals. You can learn a lot from these people, be sure to listen to what they have to say.
Surround yourself with people that don’t have much goals. Seeing people that don’t have any life projects or goals (and a boring standard life) will motivate you to not do like them. These ones are pretty easy to find, pretty much anyone who’s working a standard 9 to 5 job and contributing to a retirement fund is part of this in my opinion. You know who I’m talking about, these people are always complaining about their job but they keep doing it year after year. You obviously don’t want to be like them, but you can sure use them to get some motivation.

And lastly:

Don’t be afraid to be yourself and experiment with life, you won’t get anywhere worth of interest by doing the same thing as everybody do.

Note: You still have to respect your body though, don’t push yourself too much or you’ll soon become ineffective. If your body is telling you to take some rest, you should probably take it easy. If you’re just lacking motivation, motivate yourself and start working towards your goals!

A short time VS no time at all

Society seems to have taught us to do things by sessions mesured in hours. We work 8 (or even more) hours a day on the same tasks at our job, so why would it be different when we want to work on our own projects at home? Simply because after work, we don’t have the time and energy to do that, and for some, we can’t manage do the same thing for so long.

What I’m trying to say here is that even if you can’t/don’t want to amputate a full day of your already too short weekend, you can still manage to progress in something that matters to you.

My bass guitar teacher once said: “You’re better praticing only 15 minutes a day than not a all”. 15 minutes doesn’t seem like a big deal, but at the end of the week I would still have practiced for an hour and 45 minutes. And that’s a lot better than 0 minute.

It doesn’t only apply to music, I’m currently building a website using this method, I work for about 30 minutes then go to something else, sometimes I’m in a good mood for more and I can work for an hour or two. My website is growing slowy, but at least it’s not left to rot somewhere on my computer’s hard drive. Slow progress is still better than no progress at all. Sometimes it can take up to 4 days to write an article for this blog (by their length you could think that I write them in 5 minutes but it’s not the case) because I write for some time and then stop when I don’t feel it anymore and I come back the next day to write a few more lines and add new ideas.

I like this method because I can see some progression while keeping away from the feeling of lacking time to do all the things I have to do in a week. I also think that the slow progress makes a more “mature” result in the end. The multiple sessions help keep the project in my head so I’m always thinking about ways to improve it.

I agree that you can’t apply this to everything because some activities are long by nature but for the ones that can be splited in multiple sessions, it could be nice to give it a try. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to achieve something as long as you keep working on it.

Walking alone

A few weeks ago I started going to the grocery store on foot, partly because of my car’s poor reliability and also because it was the only kind of physical exercice I was allowed to do after a surgery. I discovered that I was getting a lot of creative ideas about things that worried me or about some projects I had in mind at the moment. I ended up doing it almost everyday since and always returned home with something nice to try. Being far from everything lets me really concentrate on one thing without being distracted by TV, Facebook, emails, Youtube, etc.

Being alone is pretty important here so you’re not getting into a conversation but just thinking about something that matters to you. It can also be nice to listen to some music so you’re not getting distracted by every little sound around you, keep something to take notes with you whether it’s a pad and pen or your smartphone (if you can resist the urge to do something else with it) and you’re good to go. I recommend walking for at least half an hour so you can get deep in your subject.

Some people would say that any exercise could work but I do not agree. For instance it is impossible for me to do it at the gym because I must concentrate on counting reps and keeping a good form throughout each set. I can’t do it while running either as I keep focus on my breathing. My personal preference is walking because I have no need to think about it while doing it but you can try other ways if you think it could work for you.

Most of the time I walk in the evening after sunset so it’s calmer in town. It also helps me to reduce stress and just relax while burning a few calories. I think most people could benefit from it if they would take some time to do it.