Your Business Skills:

Project Management

Staying Alive

Some ways to prevent your enthusiasm from flagging

Most people are enthusiastic at the start of a project. But it’s keeping the energy going that’s difficult. There are points in the progress of every project when energy fades. Here are some ways to prevent your enthusiasm from flagging.

1.    Use visual reminders of your goal

Develop visual reminders of your goal and the advantages you will experience when you reach it. The classic example is being  able to afford something you’ve been yearning for. Get your photograph taken with that item (like your dream car) and place the photograph where you will see it daily.

2.   Develop tiny steps

It’s easy to become discouraged if each step looms large and takes a long time. Break the project down to extremely small steps, then you can make some progress even if you have only five minutes.

3.   Check off small steps

As you take those small steps, check them off as you finish them. Give yourself a pat of the back for your progress. The progress you have made is just as important as the distance you have to go.

4.   Cut down on time wasters and mind numbers

Identify and avoid timewasters that you use to “numb out”. Then avoid them as much as possible. The list may include too much TV, chat-rooms, computer games, time on the phone, alcohol and partying, or other behaviors in which you indulge fairly obsessively.

5.   Get enough rest

Often, when you feel you need to work harder, you put in more hours and take less rest. It’s essential to get enough sleep or your project will suffer.

6.   Keep a journal about the benefits of your project

This involves harnessing the verbal part of your brain. This makes you feel more involved with the project. Do this especially at the start, when your energy level is high. Add to this journal whenever you can, and read it regularly.

7.   Don’t discuss the project with wet blankets

Some people worry that if you succeed, you may grow away from them. There are others who just don’t want to see you aim too high and then be disappointed. They mean well, but avoid giving them the opportunity to rain on your parade. Practice ways to change the subject if they try to talk about your project.

8.   Keep yourself physically well

Eat right, exercise and drink plenty of water… you know the routine. The trick is to keep at it so that you have the energy needed to carry your project through.

9.   Avoid all-or-nothing thinking

When we fall into the trap of all-or-nothing thinking, we begin to believe that encountering obstacles or failure, at one juncture equals total failure on the entire project.

10.   Clear the decks

While we are focusing on one thing, there are other affairs that accumulate and may overwhelm us. Keep a to-do list and keep to it. You may think that doing these things takes time from your project, but they actually help keep your energy levels up.