How to stop spinning wheels, and get things done

“A goal properly set is halfway reached.” -Zig Ziglar

One of the things I hear most from people is that they never seem to be able to get things done on their To Do list, or the things they said they’d do before the end of summer, or the end of the day, even. That can be frustrating, understandably so.

And the result of not being able to get things done, or never feeling as though you’ve accomplished what you deemed important to do, can be detrimental to you. You start to feel like you are spinning your wheels, wasting time, and repeating yourself (I have to get this done, I have to get this done, why haven’t I gotten this done?).

Ugh, let the state-of-funk begin.

There is nothing worse than feeling as though you constantly have to do something and yet never really feel as though you get anything done. All of the things you deem important to do, that you want to complete, feel better when some progress is made. You don’t even really have to complete anything at all. But you have to get things moving. Methodically and purposefully.

Getting things done is quite the reward for your psyche.

Instead of feeling like your life is a running to-do list with no reward, make a change to make progress. And set your goal properly if you want to have any chance of actually reaching it.  And by properly I mean actually picking it apart, biting off as much as you can do and actually planning to do it.

The key to progress is in setting your goal properly. Here are three tips to help you do that.

1. Determine what needs to get done and write it down in manageable parts. Don’t put big things on a list that will sit there for months because there is no real need or logical way for it to get done in a reasonable time frame. That just serves to taunt you and send you signals that you aren’t accomplishing things.  Don’t do that to yourself.
2. Chip away at it. Don’t look at the item in it’s entirety. It’s scarier that way. Take that manageable piece and break it down further into smaller goals.
3. Schedule it in. As in write the smaller goal, and manageable piece on your calendar. 10 minutes on Monday or an hour or Friday.  Scheduling it in allows you to see what needs to be done.  And because what needs to be done is a piece and not the whole, you can let the process of getting.it.done begin.

Don’t be too hard on yourself.

If you are making progress with getting it done, you aren’t spinning wheels! Progress is so so good. Pat yourself on the back from taking on the project in the first place. And feel a sense of reward and accomplishment from making progress at all.

Progress leads to completion.

Set your goal properly, and the second half of the journey to that goal might just feel like no work at all.