You’ve read the books, the blogs, and you’ve heard the big dawgs say it over and over — break your tasks down into small steps and just plug away consistently. They say it works. But “they” aren’t working a day job, they don’t have 2 kids to take care of, or… or… or…
But here’s the deal — 95% of those books and blogs and well-meaning helper tools try to tell you what size your work sprint needs to be. One says sit your butt in the chair and stay there 4 hours and don’t allow distractions. Yeah, right.
Another says, “Just work for one hour each day.” Where are you supposed to get an extra hour? You barely have time to brush your teeth.
We’ve talked about the biology and even the psychology of fear when it comes to change. But there’s another component that most people miss. How my mind reacts to “just do 30 minutes every day” may be very different from how yours reacts. You may scoff at 30 minutes; “I can do 30 minutes with my eyes closed and one arm tied behind my back!” while my brain is going “Thirty minutes? THIRTY MINUTES? Are you !@#$ kidding me?”
This is an important point. No, it’s a critical point. If you sit yourself down and try to do 30 minutes of focused work on your dream business or project every day, and it’s just not happening, then your sprint is too big! You need to cut it down until your mind says “Oh, HAH! I speet en de face of 10 meenits!” Now you have a starting point.
Yes, I understand that 10 minutes, or 5 minutes, or even 1 minute a day may seem ridiculous – and impossible to get anything done. But once you find that comfortable spot where your Dragon of Resistance just dozes off to sleep because the sprint is so small it can’t possibly be a threat, then you have just taken the first step toward taming him. You may start with 1 minute, and then after a week, you’ll be ready to take on 2 minutes, and that focused time sprint soon becomes something that grows into a regular work habit. And before you know it, your first project is under your belt. Instead of looking back over 2 or 3 weeks of getting nothing accomplished.
So — now what do you think? Is bigger always better?
