Robyn Pearce: When a big task bogs you down

When a task has a big scope, many feel stuck and overwhelmed. Photo / Thinkstock

Recently I was talking to William*, one of my coaching clients. We've had a few sessions to help him change old habits of distraction, fragmentation, reactivity and dis-organisation.

He said, 'I'm doing well with my scheduling and diary usage. Got that well under control. But I find I'm getting stuck on some big things again.' It was nearly a month since our last meeting and this particular old habit had snuck back in, despite some early success.

As we talked, what began to surface was that when a task has too big a scope, he feels stuck and overwhelmed.

A few weeks earlier William and his business advisor had begun work on his business strategy. He'd been tasked with putting some flesh on the bones of the plan for a meeting the next day.

'I've had three attempts at it in the last couple of weeks but within a few minutes I'd get distracted and go looking for something easier. Now the meeting is tomorrow and I'll have to go back to my old habit of cobbling something together at the last minute.'

'So why didn't you continue in those earlier attempts?' I asked.

'It just seemed too big. It was like going down a rabbit hole. One topic led to many others and I found myself distracted by so many possibilities and ideas. I confused myself as to what was the best approach and what needed to be done first. It was all too hard so each time I just gave up.'

He's not alone in this. When a project seems too big we become confused and ineffective. We beat ourselves up for procrastination. But here's the thing - procrastination and perfectionism are bed-fellows. For many people, if they can't do something really well they tend to put it off. And if they're confused or overwhelmed, they're never going to feel confident that they can turn out good work.

Some strategies to help:

1. Are you the kind of person who needs someone else for a sounding board?

Some people don't know what they think until they hear themselves say it. Especially when we're in strategy mode, it can be very helpful to work with someone else. If you're one of those, don't try and do this kind of high-level thinking in isolation. Find someone with great facilitation skills.

2. Just work on one chunk of the topic. William was trying to think too big and he literally couldn't think straight.

3. Ask yourself, 'What are the next one or two steps?'

He identified that he wanted more clients. That was still too big. What sort? How to meet them?

We came up with a plan:

a) make a list of 20 firms in his target range

b) find some way to connect with them - two suggestions were to start a conversation via Linkedin or ask for referrals from mutual connections.

As we broke things down into specific steps his overwhelm started to diminish for these were realistic and achievable actions.

4. Don't try and have all the answers at the start.

William was thinking ahead to a possible first meeting. 'I don't like to ask to see someone unless I can go fully prepared with what they need'.

My answer: 'But if you haven't yet met them, you don't know what they need, or even if they can use your service. What about just having a conversation to find out what their needs might be? Certainly take some marketing collateral, but your first meeting is generally an exploratory meeting.'

There may be other issues yet to uncover, but he's on his way to more profitable habits.

.*not his real name

Robyn Pearce (known as the Time Queen) is the MD of GettingAGrip.com, an international time management and productivity training company based in New Zealand. Get your free report 'How To Master Time In Only 90 Seconds' and ongoing time tips at www.gettingagrip.com