5 Secrets to Help You Keep Going When the Project Gets Long
I don’t think I have very good endurance.
In fact, most of my life I didn’t think I had very good persistence either. You know the phrase “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”? For me it was more like “when the going gets tough, throw in the towel and find a different interest.”
I mean, who has time and stamina to work on something when it’s difficult and takes for-ev-er? Not this lady, give me the quick reward, the instant gratification. And if I feel like I HAVE to do it, I will….right after I do 15 other procrastination projects.
Maybe it’s that I have undiagnosed AHDH, am lazy, childish, or really don’t have good endurance or persistence. And yet, here I am in the middle of a 8-month kitchen remodel/kitchen cabinet build project. As a new woodworker, this task as been everything but easy. So how? How does someone with all of these issues stay focused?
My 5 secrets
Motivation or Clarity
Which is it? Its hard to keep going when the next step is unclear. Is it a problem you are trying to solve? Usually this one happens because of a problem I created, and I don’t know enough to fix it yet. At first these kinds of errors would crush me. But as a recovering perfectionist they aren’t quite so devastating. Depending on the scale of the problem, it will sap my motivation. But really it will sap the clarity and I need to do more research to figure out how to pivot.
Or is the motivation/clarity gone because you aren’t solid on your vision? Maybe you weren’t sure to begin with and kicked that decision down the road and now it’s staring you in the face. Maybe you had a vision, but are now second guessing it. Maybe you had a vision but it’s out of budget, not going to work with timeline, or found something that would work better BUT you’d have to change other things. All of these bring about a distortion and can create feelings of no motivation because you are in decision paralysis.
Asking the question of “Is this lack of motivation, or is this lack of clarity” can be the introspection you need to re-clarify and suddenly the motivation is there.
But what if it IS a lack of motivation?
Sometimes it’s a lack of motivation, though.
A long project, especially when skills are still new, can be so full of challenges. Not only do I experience decision paralysis, I get tired of constantly running troubleshoot and keeping track of everything. The project, while exciting, has lost its excitement in the hugeness of it. So I stop and indulge in side quests that I like to call procrastination projects.
Procrastination projects are quick wins, they keep my creative energy interested and satisfy my desire for instant gratification. It also reminds me that I am good at what I do. Rebuilding my confidence, creativity, and excitement to push my skill reignites my motivation for the long-term project.
Procrastination projects work best for me if they aren’t heavy “troubleshooting” type of projects. So if the project has a lot of style questions and sourcing materials, I’ll find a project that will use things I have on hand. If the project has a lot of managing pieces and parts, keeping measurements precise, I will do projects that are more of a creative flow.
For example, building my cabinets takes a lot of measurements, precision, and finesse. So I’ve been trying power carving (new skill), crocheting (old skill), and sewing (mastered skill). Going back to the familiar builds confidence. Trying a new skill builds creativity and excitement.
Put in time every day
Some parts of long projects and renovations are just that, long. It’s not the troubleshooting, or getting clarity, it’s the fact that 10 tons of rock needs to be moved, or 12 cabinets need to be made at the same time.
Its repetitive work, and the excitement gets lost in the repetition. When I get to this point in a project, I promise myself to do a little bit every day. Sometimes it’s an hour or two. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes its less. But the progress won’t happen unless it gets done. This is another time that I will do procrastination projects, almost like “priming the pump”.
Even if I could put long hours into it and get it done faster, most of the time I won’t for the sake of maintaining my interest, mental health, etc. Pushing myself to the physical and mental limit for the sake of keeping to my own unrealistic timeline is a surefire way for me to finish the project and not do it ever again. Since the long-term project is a long-term interest I want it to stay interesting and rewarding. Not a punishment.
Have small goals and CELEBRATE them!
I am the queen of calling a BIG task something simple. For example “doing the dishes” is not putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Its:
clearing the table
dishes in the dishwasher
wash the handwash dishes
collect the scattered used dishes from all over the kitchen
wash those dishes
wash the sink
wipe the counters
wipe the stove
wipe the table
wipe the chairs
sweep the floor
spot clean the floor
mop the floor
I do the same thing with projects, especially long-term projects. I have a list on my phone for the kitchen renovation and one line says “build kitchen cabinets”. Yeah, the task that has taken me 8-months. Has one line.
So break that step down and then break it down further. Maybe the goal is doing something to move the project forward that day. CELEBRATE IT. I’m serious. Dance party. Cheer yourself on. Tell yourself “I’m so proud of you”. Give yourself a treat.
DO NOT and I can’t stress this enough. DO NOT chide yourself for not doing enough. Nothing kills motivation faster than shame. And nothing makes a project feel more like a punishment than mental castigation.
Get a cheering section
Sometimes being your own cheerleader only goes so far. Especially if your brain is like mine and leans more on the rude side than the positive one. I’m talking do the adult version of show-and-tell. But don’t build your cheering section with people who fidget and mumble at your wins. Nope, find the people who are going to give you the standing ovation because they are so PROUD. OF. YOU. TOO.
That cheering section is going to give you accountability, because they are going to be GENUINELY INTERESTED in your progress. They will ask you how its going. They are going to congratulate you on overcoming the problems, the drudgery, and your persistence (even if you don’t think you have persistence). The power of someone believing in you is incredible. Humans throughout time have done some amazing feats of strength, endurance and accomplishment because they had a cheering section that got loud despite how loudly negative their brain was trying to be.
Projects can get take a lot of time
If you are like me you can drastically underestimate the time, energy, and skill it will take to accomplish it. But even if you think you have no endurance or persistence, you can surprise yourself by doing these five things.
Check back soon, because the kitchen cabinets are CLOSE* to being done.
*but could still not be done for a couple more months. I’m bad at gauging this. So keep checking.
