We often talk about blocking time for the legato work–the deep thinking projects that take a large block of uninterrupted time to focus and get things done (e.g. writing, analysis, strategic planning). The legato work is where we each make our unique contribution. In our highly fragmented, reactive world, most people crave uninterrupted blocks of time to think—and keep trying to make it happen. In fact, many calendar programs even offer “focus time” as a setting for scheduling.
The challenge for most people is actually sticking to that time and using it to get the intended project work done. How often have you blocked off time in your schedule to work on the big projects, but when that time rolls around, you find yourself doing anything but the task at hand. Instead, you sit there staring at the screen, migrate over to your email box or slack to get “a few little things done”, decide now is the time to rearrange your pencil drawer, or scroll your news feed one more time–anything to avoid the dreaded task.
One of the worst effects of procrastination is the energy drain; we beat ourselves up the rest of the day for not accomplishing what we need to. As tempted as we are to judge ourselves, in over 30 years as a time management coach, I’ve never found that procrastination is caused by laziness or irresponsibility. There are many causes of procrastination, depending on what the task is. When it comes to legato work, the most common obstacle is that the task is too big. The size and scale of the task is intimidating. You don’t know where to start, or have the feeling that if you do start, you’ll barely make a dent-- so why bother?
The key to getting the thinking work done is to take a more systematic approach. Here’s how:
Break Big Projects into Manageable Steps
The thing about big projects is that they often require 6, 10 or even 20 hours to get completely done. But we rarely have such big blocks of time to focus in a single sitting. Instead of facing one huge, amorphous task looming ominously over your head, divide your project into three (or six, or ten) achievable steps. Each step could be one or two hours in duration. Then concentrate each block of time only on a single step. Outline a critical document one day, flesh out the introduction the next day, the body the day after that, and give it a final polish on the fourth day.
Work in Single Function Layers
It helps to break big multi-part projects into single function layers, with each step only requiring one part of your brain at a time. That makes it easier to sit down and work, because you only have to gear up to do one type of thinking at a time, that does not require fragmentation. Let’s say you have a huge presentation to put together, and can only work on it in one hour blocks of time. Here’s one way to break it down into layers of thinking so that each time block generates a manageable deliverable:
Review reference documents to highlight key points…..1 hour
Decide on core position and argument.……….………....1 hour
Write rough bulleted outline …………………….……….1 hour
Research data to support argument……….……………...1 hour
Integrate selected data into presentation………….……1 hour
Convert bullets to prose, one section at a time………….1 hour per section
Practice as far as your headlights can see
The next time you are facing any big project on your to-do list, keep in mind that your very first step is not to start the project, but to sit down for an hour and break that project down into a manageable work plan. The skill of breaking big projects into doable steps takes practice and observation to get right.
For brand new projects you’ve never done before, you may be stumped on how to best break it down. Try asking a few people who’ve done similar projects how they approached it. Or, just try breaking it down as far as your headlights can see–in other words, define the first three steps, and once you get those done, you can see further down the road and define the next three steps. For repeat projects, you’ll eventually learn through trial and error how you work best.
Learning to break big projects into doable steps is a powerful skill for our fragmented, reactive world. It sets you up for the gratifying feeling of making incremental progress on the high impact projects on your to-do list, instead of feeling trapped in the paralysis of procrastination. Begin practicing today–and before long you will experience a powerful sense of control and the joy of completion every day.