Introduction
Everybody gets nervous or frightened by new projects or a change of events from time to time. Sometimes we just shrug off any worries and get on with it, but on occasions we keep putting off projects until they get to a crisis point in our lives, or assume a significance that is totally out of proportion to their real importance.
This short tips booklet will give you some easy to follow and practical ideas to help you overcome hesitation. These ideas are focused on work based projects, but the ideas are equally valid in solving any type of problem that you just keep putting off – whether at school, at home or indeed any area of your life.
You’ll notice that a few of the tips are framed as positive or negative rewards. This is because some people are motivated by negative consequences rather than positive results.
You need to decide with each particular project what would motivate you more – the fear of failure or the joy of success. Would you be more motivated by a special treat for completing a task - or a punishment for missing a deadline? Try out both approaches and you will find that one works better for you than the other. However, just because it works that way on one project doesn’t mean it will always be that way. You may find that you need different reward strategies for different areas of your life. Just try this out a few times and you’ll see what I mean.
A tip for how to get the most out of this booklet
When you are looking through these tips, my advice is to read through them all quickly, and then dip into them from time to time when you find yourself stuck on a project. They all work – but you will discover some that work better for you than others. You may end up using 5 of them all the time and only when you are stuck coming back to seek out one of the ideas that you have not tried before.
29 Tips on How to Overcome Hesitation
- Take a tiny step – just commit to spending 10 minutes on a project and then 10 minutes the next day, and so on. Before you know it, you will have achieved momentum and will be compelled to carry on.
- Ask somebody who has completed a similar project. Ask them what they did first, and get some tips on how to get started – what is the easiest part or key component to unlocking the task?
- Speed writing! Take the phone off the hook and force yourself to write anything – literally anything – on the subject you are working on for 15 minutes. Much of what you end up with may be rubbish, but amongst that you will have the root of the reason you have been hesitating, and great deal of information on where to start work.
- Decide what would constitute the completed ‘first step’ of the project. Set a deadline to complete it by then, and promise yourself a reward that means something to you if you complete by this time.
- Penalties – decide what needs to be done as a first stage and if you don’t complete, commit to doing something that you really hate as a punishment for not completing in time.
- Give a friend £50 and tell them to keep it if you don’t get back to them by a certain time with the completed task!
- Break the whole project down into small and then even smaller steps. Ask yourself if you could complete 5 of your new tiny steps by the end of this week? Of course you could! You will then have made a start. Once the project is in motion, it is far easier to keep it going.
- Think big. Imagine what this project could lead to – the money it could generate or the employment opportunities it could create.
- Write down a key question about the project, then take a long walk or go for a run and force yourself to think about nothing other than the problem for the duration.
- Meditate. What is the problem that is causing the mental blockage? Write it down, write down what you want to achieve and meditate on the solution. Don’t worry about it – trust yourself to provide the best solution and it will come to you!
- Consider how you would feel if you never actually completed the task in hand. What would be the consequences? How would you feel about such consequences? It may be that, if you aren’t bothered by no outcome, then you should consider leaving the project altogether – but if you are upset, then it’s time to get moving.
- Take courage. Don’t allow the fear of failure to stop you from starting. Whatever happens, you will achieve some kind of a result – even if it is not the result you were expecting. Think positively about the outcome, but also spend time thinking about what could go wrong – and take action to ensure that the possible problems don’t occur.
- Consider using a life coach to examine why you can’t get moving on a particular area of your life. They will go through a series of questions with you and will uncover what it is that is holding you back.
- Visualise what the completed project will be like when it’s done. How will it look? How will you feel? What sound will you hear? What will be different? Use all your senses to create a feeling of achievement for the final project – it will give you a clear vision to work towards. Bill Gates had a vision of a PC in every home when most computer manufacturers only saw computers as being for the work place. This vision gave Gates a clear goal to aim towards.
- Follow your gut instinct. Why do you think you have been putting off this task? Perhaps there is something about it that you don’t like or need clarification on. Sit in a quiet place and ask yourself why you have been putting it off.
- If you keep putting it off, perhaps you don’t actually have the skill to do the task in the first place. If this is honestly why you are not making a start, perhaps delegation is the best road forward.
- Tell a group of people (perhaps someone critical of you) that you are going to complete the task by a certain time.
- Pick up the phone and start dialling. Call somebody who can give you some answers about what you need to do. This could be somebody in a different department or a friend who experienced a similar problem. It could be a ‘friend of a friend’ who is a real expert in solving the problem. It could even be a professional who would be happy to help. If it is a problem that requires the input of an expert, why not call in a few favours and ring up a local firm and ask their opinion? Most of the time they will be happy to answer a question or two and you will be able to tap into their specialised knowledge for free. For example, The Ideal Marketing Company (www.idealmarketingcompany.com) offers a free one hour marketing consultation over the phone - no strings attached.
- Even if you do have the skills to complete the task, perhaps your time is better spent on other high value activities. If this is the case, assign the task to somebody else suited to the work in hand and get on with something more appropriate.
- Just do it! Stop reading this tips booklet right now and just make a start. You’ve been putting this project off for too long – it’s time to get a move on and now is as good a time as any – if not now, when?
- Eat a frog! Brian Tracy explains that the best way to start the day is to eat the biggest, ugliest frog (i.e. the most unappealing task) first. That way, everything else you do all day will seem better in comparison. Look at the project you have to do, see which bit you keep putting off and make a point of not doing ANYTHING tomorrow until you have completed this part of the project. This will give you huge momentum and make the rest of the task progress far more quickly.
- Joke deadline. Give yourself a joke deadline – e.g. “I’ll tidy the garage up totally in 10 minutes” when you know it’s really a three hour task – and see how much you can get done in 10 minutes.
- Fear. Recognise that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. If you do nothing then things will almost certainly get worse and you will become even more frightened. Is that what you really want to happen?
- Ask yourself “What’s the worst that can happen?” If everything goes wrong in the current situation, what would the long term consequences really be? Would it be the end of the world? In most cases the worst, the very worst that could happen, would not be that serious. Now, imagine some of the things that could go wrong, make a list of these and start to work out how these wrong turns could be avoided. You have now started to take action, whether you realised it or not.
- Get rid of distractions. If you have too many distractions around you – guess what – you’ll be distracted. Make a concerted effort to clear away clutter, complete all the nagging little projects and clear your desk and then a day or so later, begin your big project free from diversions.
- If a project seems to be taking over your life, try to put it into perspective. Look back on your life from one month, three months, a year or even ten years in the future. How significant will it be viewed from that distance? In the context of all the other things going on, will it really be such a big deal?
- Does hesitation = indecision? Perhaps you haven’t actually decided that this is the right thing to do? Perhaps that’s why you have been hesitating. Go back over what it is that you have actually committed to do and re-evaluate it. Perhaps you will come to a different conclusion this time.
- Tell a close friend about what you plan to do. They may be able to spot any flaws or oversights that you have missed because you have been too close to the task in hand. They may be able to suggest short cuts that will get you moving.
- S.U.M.O. or Shut Up and Move On! Sometimes we can dwell on things forever and end up going around in circles. We don’t get started because we want perfection. The truth is there is very little chance of the project turning out ‘perfect’- it’s better to just make a start, so stop questioning it and begin today.