Presto! Project is Done!

You know that big project (or presentation or proposal) that’s due in two weeks?
The one you haven’t started yet?

I know. I know. You’ve been meaning to do it. But it’s going to take HOURS and there are so many other things to do. You just haven’t had any big chunks of time to devote to it.

You actually thought you would get started yesterday but this and that happened.
Same thing happened the day before.
And the day before that.
And the day before.

But you KNOW that pretty soon the pressure will kick in and you WILL get it done.
You always do.
And it works out okay.
Usually.

But….it drives you crazy.
And everyone around you.

So – what about this? What if you finish reading this article real quick and then make a list of all the things you need to do to get this project done?

Things like:
1. Gather industry trends from search engines
2. Ask for input from these 3 vendors
3. Create slide presentation
4. Include new section about company strengths
5. Update staff section
6. Figure out pricing
7. Get projector
8. Extra bulb
9. Refreshments?
10. File folders
11. Take lucky suit to dry cleaners
12. Practice

List whatever comes to mind. Paper and pen is fine. Even better – type it or use a mindmapping tool. That way you can add, delete, cut, paste and rearrange without needless duplication of effort. At this point, don’t judge or evaluate. Just write or type all the possibilities you can think of for the next ten minutes. Use that Presto! timer we talked about last week!

When the timer goes off, punch your Easy Button.

If you are very very lucky, you will discover that your long dreaded project will take no time at all and so you just do it right away.

If you weren’t quite that lucky, that’s okay. Here’s the plan.

Make a one hour appointment with yourself for later today or no later than first thing tomorrow. Can’t squeeze in an hour? Okay then – thirty minutes. Put this appointment on your calendar. Durng this appointment with yourself, re-visit and edit your list, chunking it down into sections that can be delegated. Delegate those NOW!!!! The items that can’t be delegated, put time estimates next to them. Add up the total hours needed and double it (because things seem to take at least twice as long as we think). Does it come to 10 hours? Can you set aside two whole days to crank it out? Most people can’t. But that’s okay. If you work on the project for one hour each day over the next 10 days, you’ll be done.

Now commit this time to your calendar. Preferably the very first thing each day. During these “project hours”, tell everyone you are in a meeting. Not to be disturbed. Turn off all ringers, beepers, buzzers and tweets. Don’t panic – it’s only for an hour at a time. Just sit down, put on your blinders and set your Presto! Timer.

When the timer goes off and you hit the Easy Button, you’ll be back “in circulation”.

And after doing this day after day, your feelings of competence and confidence will increase as you meet your deadline with less fuss and muss.

And if the project involves an actual presentation, you will be so much more prepared and relaxed so that on the day of the presentation – WOW!