Completing Projects (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Completing Projects

[NicoleNicki]

I disagree with so much in this particular blog post, that I'd be writing too long a post to explain it all.

It may very well be the case that this blog post is a wonderful post for Savage, and for many, many other people.

For me, no. So, I'll just say that I recommend for anyone who has difficulty completing projects to consider Savage's blog post AND to read a book mentioned on these forums by a few people, one I've just finished, which is phenomenal -- Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher. For years, similar to Savage's post, I thought about procrastination and all the other things mentioned in this blog post...if you are like me, or like the many other people Barbara Sher writes about in this book, there is a much better way, IMO, to view what actually completing a project is, what value exists in so-called 'incomplete' projects and how to complete meaningful projects for you.

[ssandra]

Funny how on one paragraph you say that NLP doesn't work for you, and in the next you describe an NLP technique that works great....

Anyway.... There are a zillion ways to get from having incomplete projects all around to having completed projects everywhere. I think that your way (which is VERY NLP ) works great for most people. Other people will have other techniques that will work for them.


For me right now what is working is "integrity" (Tnx Angela!).

Integrity meaning; when I say I will do something, I will do that. Even if I just said it to myself.

It came from some journey of realizing how I would keep my promises to other people, but not to myself. How it seemed that what other people thought of me was more important then what I thought of myself. AND deciding about what I want to think about myself...

[cacheborn]

I found the self-identity part particularly interesting. Last few months, I have been deluding myself about my progress. It's time to buckle up, take stock and get moving.

Good exercise about checking with yourself every hour. J. Krishnamurti says you should do it every second, what he calls 'choiceless awareness'.

[VinceG]

This is a productivity technique, and as such, will only be useful for people seeking greater productivity. Other people are better served with articles helping them decide between alternatives, or coming up with the alternatives. Really, once you find the right thing to do, productivity takes care of itself. "Productivity" tips only really helps people who have things that aren't really right for them, but who still want to do them anyway. I learned this the hard way while I was going through Getting Things Done.

[Chris_1977]

I agree with Steve. On the other hand I seem to be doing this more or less naturally already. The thing that really made the difference for me was to keep a good inventory of all task and projects so that I was not always experiencing the nagging feeling that I was probably forgetting about ten things right when doing something. For this, GTD is great in my opinion. Some people complain about GTD having too many lists and too much maintenance, but since I am somewhat of an obsessive-compulsive personality, GTD is great fun for me ;-). I also use double-entry accounting for my personal finances.

[WarrenG]

I'm kinda overcommited on things at the moment, but when I list out the projects I have on the go, it's reaaaaally hard to choose between them. Maybe I should try the CARVER thingy.

Also this:

It may slow you down. It may frustrate you. You may need to take more breaks in order to get through it.

I like to actually go to bed and lie down frequently when working on this type of thing. One of the many benefits of working from home.

[SatvikBeri]

Originally Posted by WarrenG

I'm kinda overcommited on things at the moment, but when I list out the projects I have on the go, it's reaaaaally hard to choose between them. Maybe I should try the CARVER thingy.

Also this:



I like to actually go to bed and lie down frequently when working on this type of thing. One of the many benefits of working from home.

You know, I think you have the only username that rhymes with "orange." At least that's how I pronounce it.

[WarrenG]

Originally Posted by SatvikBeri

You know, I think you have the only username that rhymes with "orange." At least that's how I pronounce it.

I have many names. American's usually pronounce it like "uooorrah." Aussies call me "wozza." Spanish-speakers call me wah-ran. The French call me Wor-ror. The scots call me "English *******".

[supertom]

I love that you shared a mindset in the article, feel free post more of them !!!

I made the realization a few days ago thats in that article is that the voice that i thought was me wasnt really me more of a trickster.

I did what you describe in the last paragraph a few years ago also recorded myself with my webcam. I think Ghandi did it also he wrote down everything he ate, thought and did that hour. There was a article a few years back i see reacting as going with the lower mind vs responding going with the higher self reaction-vs-response/

[joyfulgrowth]

To complete a project, you must eventually do the steps required for project completion. If you don’t feel like doing a particular step, and you use your feelings to justify avoidance of that step, then your project will remain stuck in an incomplete state.

I feel embarrassed about having actually needed Steve to type that for me to get it. I mean, it's plain logic, isn't it? And yet, that's EXACTLY what I have been doing (and wondering why some projects never got completed).

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Savage

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Completing Projects

Looks like an interesting article, Steve.

I'll finish it later.

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by VinceG

This is a productivity technique, and as such, will only be useful for people seeking greater productivity. Other people are better served with articles helping them decide between alternatives, or coming up with the alternatives. Really, once you find the right thing to do, productivity takes care of itself. "Productivity" tips only really helps people who have things that aren't really right for them, but who still want to do them anyway. I learned this the hard way while I was going through Getting Things Done.

I think it is assumed here that you have found the purpose of your life. If you are working on a project that you hate, it's time to go back and rethink.

[taylor]

Steve, just wanted to hop on and say I read this last night and this particular article tripled my measurable productivity today. It's a very different feeling identifying with the "achiever" than the "slob". Whenever you feel any hesitation or laziness, you are identifying with the slob, and if you quickly switch to the achiever, stuff gets done. It's quite simple and effective for me. It takes like a second or two to switch for me and I'm instantly taking conscious action. This is the golden key to self-discipline I was looking for. I was wracking my brain for this key literally the same day you posted it.

Today I've also been resonating with the ideas of Christianity and Bhagavad-Gita, which is all about being a servant of a higher power and doing things because they are right, rather than for any reward. My "achiever" doesn't want anything but to serve. "Humble servant" might be a more apt name. My affirmations quickly turned into a humble prayer today, which helped me energize the "servant" archetype even more for today and tomorrow.

[invisiblehouses]

I completed a project after I read this!

Of course, it was one part (a single page) of a larger project (a whole website), but it was a killer page to finally jump in and complete. Plus, it got me unstuck from a place where I was just sort of spinning my wheels.

I've also got a small music recording project I want to complete as soon as possible. I always seem to waste time "preparing," whatever that means. Actually, I know what it means...once that little red light goes on (the one that means "you're recording this!"), you're about to commit to preserving a song on tape, and it might not sound as good there as it does in your head, so get ready to be disappointed. I believe that's a limiting belief right there, don't you?

[sanjay71]

when i am reading your article and when you talk about giving meaning to the work than my mind says that hey sanjay, steve pavlina is enrolled in the occurrance course by morty lefkoe. than i said no steve does not need this course he is highly conscious. but when i read the last paragraph it clearly show me that you are taking part in the occurrence course. if i know earlier than i might take part in that course. best of luck to you for this course. i really like this course if i find any inexpensive version of this course i immediately join it.

[Rachelle]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

Looks like an interesting article, Steve.

I'll finish it later.

Curtis, I gotta ask -- WTF is that creepy face all about? It's *really* frakkin creepy!


But not to derail the thread, here's my $0.02... For me, I think the best part of this article is the advice to disassociate the lazy or procrastinating behavior from one's identity. I know so many people who self-identify as procrastinators (myself included sometimes), so this perspective and mindset is really appreciated. I'm sure we could all use the reminder now and then.

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by Rachelle

Curtis, I gotta ask -- WTF is that creepy face all about? It's *really* frakkin creepy!

It's one of the faces from the Rage comics.

They get too obnoxious at times, not a fan.

[supertom]

Originally Posted by cacheborn

It's one of the faces from the Rage comics.

They get too obnoxious at times, not a fan.

Ohhh didnt know that. I thought the inception one was quite appropriate.

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by supertom

Ohhh didnt know that. I thought the inception one was quite appropriate.

Some of them are good and I used to read them. But then the ratio of good ones to the bad ones became quite small, so I stopped.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Rachelle

Curtis, I gotta ask -- WTF is that creepy face all about? It's *really* frakkin creepy!


But not to derail the thread, here's my $0.02... For me, I think the best part of this article is the advice to disassociate the lazy or procrastinating behavior from one's identity. I know so many people who self-identify as procrastinators (myself included sometimes), so this perspective and mindset is really appreciated. I'm sure we could all use the reminder now and then.

It's a trollface. It means my statement was a joke to deliberately poke fun at Steve's article.

[smartile]

Your overall results in life largely depend on your ability to follow through until you achieve completion. Many projects produce essentially zero results if they’re 90% complete. The key results only appear when you reach 100% completion.

Hey Steve - this is especially true for entrepreneurs and sales professionals... as until you complete a sale, you haven't really achieved the final outcome... you can always measure milestones along the way and enjoy the process... but nothing is really achieved 100% until a sale is made...

Steve

[SabrinaSwings]

I'm not gonna lie. It took me about 4 tries to complete the project of reading this blog entry.

[falcan]

I've made myself an utility to not get crazy if I have to work on more projects at once...I'm not a fan of detailed planning, especially with many projects where so many things constantly change and break plans.

I'm rather checking if I did work on a project recently. That way I don't have to always think about "what did I forget to work on this week". The app shows green/orange/red lights and number of days I didn't work on something, so I always sort of know what needs progress and what not, without long thinking or reading in plans/todos etc. The best part - after I work on a project I click the light and it will turn green (&play a rewarding sound ). It works well for me.

If anyone is interested in the app, let me know and I might just send it to you, I was thinking about releasing it but I'm busy recently (how ironic)

[Elfwing]

Very thankful for this article. For years, I've been a fanfiction writer and never finished a multi-part fanfic because I'd get bored. Recently I decided, "To hell with it, I'm going to finish this one NO MATTER WHAT." I've gotten farther on it than I have on any of my other projects, but I've hit my first roadblock and started procrastinating.

Really needed this kick to the ass. I'm going to knuckle down and get myself over the next part.