Caught in a cycle of project paralysis

There’s a bin of snowshoes and other winter-sports equipment that’s sitting at the bottom of my basement stairs. In mid-January I had the bright idea of moving the winter stuff into the garage so that it would be more easily accessible. We’re now well into spring, and the bin never made it up the stairs.

So, this morning I put it back on the shelf and vowed to bring the beach stuff upstairs …. someday soon. This is how my life feels sometimes. Like I’m just getting a handle on the current season (both metaphorically and physically) when it’s over and time to transition to the next.

It’s like this with parenting. With yardwork. With house upkeep. And with work projects. I can never really get ahead of the game. I’m still on A when it’s time to be on B. And can you believe it? C is just around the corner.

I think part of my problem is that I get hung up at the beginning.

Project paralysis happens when we think we have to do it all now, which is usually impossible. Overwhelmed by the bigger picture, we get delayed before we ever start. When we finally get things rolling, it’s time to move on to the next thing.

Like planting the seeds in my garden. It took me a good two weeks after the start of the planting season to buy the seeds. Now they’ve been sitting on my kitchen counter for three days. Why can’t I seem to find the time to walk down to the garden and put them in the ground?

Because I need to rake first. Then I need to think through what’s going where. Am I going to plant one row of spinach or two? And shoot, the store was out of snap peas, so I’ll need to save room for them. It’s the planning and getting on top of the small tasks that lead to the great accomplishment that are my biggest stumbling blocks.

I know I’m not the only one.

I talk to friends all the time who bought the special cookbook and the gluten-free flour and have yet to bake their first batch of muffins. Or they invested in the new bike but haven’t taken it out for a whirl. Or they’ve been thinking about starting a blog — they even secured the domain name, but they just can’t seem to get started.

The best advice I’ve ever received is to simply do the next thing that moves you closer to your goal. You make headway toward your objective one small task at a time. So you can’t cycle 10 miles today? Try one mile.

Today I need to walk down to the garden and spend 20 minutes raking. I don’t have to plant the whole garden. Just rake. Tomorrow I’ll put in a row of seeds. Somehow this feels much more doable.

I often avoid getting started because I think I have to finish the job … right now. Organize all of the summer stuff. Plant the entire garden. Clean the whole house.

Since I rarely, if ever, have time to do it all, I don’t begin.

Instead, I should just do one thing.

By breaking down larger projects into digestible parts, I’ll not only overcome my project paralysis, I’ll also eventually reach my goal.

Bringing the bin of summer stuff upstairs doesn’t mean that I need to move all of the skis into the attic. That can happen tomorrow. Today I just need to relocate the bin of snorkels and flippers to the garage. It will take me about five minutes. Otherwise, the plastic bin will spend the rest of the summer at the base of the stairs.

It’s amazing how much space these undone tasks take up in our brains.

I’ve been walking past that bin in the basement for weeks and it pangs me every time. Similarly, knowing that the seeds aren’t in the ground yet leaves me feeling like I’m falling behind. Like I just can’t get it together.

The truth is, I’m on top of most things in my life. But these few tasks, the ones that I’ve been putting off, make me feel disorganized and inefficient. Forget that I’ve been working my tail off doing a hundred other things to keep my family and career humming along. I haven’t planted the darn seeds!

What is the thing that you’ve been meaning to do? What’s keeping you from doing it? I’ll make you a deal. You do that one thing, and I’ll do mine, and we’ll celebrate with a virtual “high five.” I think we’ll both be amazed at how much better we’ll feel.