This is a guest post by Emma Newman of Post Apocalyptic Publishing.
I once heard that former British Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher said “Happiness is a ticked off list”. I have no idea if that’s true, but regardless of how one might have felt about her politics, I can certainly relate to that statement. I always write a to-do list for every project, and having recently completed a major one, I realised something about the process that causes it all to break down.
You see, as detailed as my lists are, I’ve realized that there are certain types of items that don’t appear on there. At best these unlisted tasks can slow things down, and at worst they can grind a project to a halt. I call these my hidden barrier tasks, perhaps an illustration is in order.;
My to-do list for the project of publishing my first e-anthology of short stories:
- Obtain a professionally designed book cover
- Format document in line with style guide
- Sort out PayPal
- Sort out PO Box for press releases
- Write sales blurb
- Write copyright notice and appendix
- Create landing page for e-book purchasers
- Research e-book pricing and decide on a price
- Publish e-book
Note how each of those seem perfectly reasonable and pretty detailed in some cases. When I was writing the list, I knew that some tasks would be relatively quick to execute and more straight forward than others. What I didn’t realise was that there were other tasks I had to tackle before the project could be completed. What it should have said was:
- Get over reluctance to ask my busy best friend for help
- Obtain a professionally designed book cover
- Format master document in line with style guide
- Sort out PayPal
- Sort out PO Box for press releases
- Figure out what the essence of the anthology is
- Write sales blurb
- Write copyright notice and appendix
- Create landing page for e-book purchasers
- Get over extreme block about charging money for my creative writing
- Research e-book pricing and decide on a price
- Push past the fear of failure
- Publish e-book
When I look at that second list, I feel like a fool! Those four hidden barrier tasks stalled the launch of my anthology by at least a week. The first of them was resolved in a conversation with the aforementioned best friend who turned out to be delighted to help.
Project launch delayed by: 1 day.
The second required consultation with a reader, as I am far too close to the stories to see them with enough objectivity.
Project launch delayed by: 3 hours (plus a huge amount of frustration incurred by my inability to write a sales blurb for my own project!).
The third hidden task really stalled the project, which was still secret at the time. It ultimately required the creation of a secret project support group of lovely people who were prepared to listen to my plan, look at specific concerns I had and then give me feedback and lots of kind encouragement. They also encouraged me to blog about it, and that helped immensely too. The lesson I learnt at that stage was that developing things in secret might lead to a grand unveiling, but doing something way beyond your comfort zone in secret is a recipe for procrastination.
Project launch delayed by: 5 days (ouch).
The fourth hidden barrier, well, that’s still there, but I have that fear with everything (even writing this post)! I did just have to take a deep breath and push the publish button regardless of the fear. But becoming aware of that fear made it easier to deal with, and squeeze past.
Project launch delayed by: 1 hour (that was me actively fretting about whether to click the button - it was probably hours and hours spread over the last month).
I guess that’s what this is all about: awareness. So the next time I write a to-do list, I’m going to take a moment to see how I feel about each task, rather than a purely logic-based, practical appraisal of what needs to be done. After all, it was the emotional side of it that slowed me down, but bringing them out into the open helped me immensely. I’ll also be sure to prioritize tackling those previously hidden barrier tasks, to make sure the project proceeds more smoothly.
So, do you have a big project on the go? Or a to-do list the length of Italy? Are there any items on it that are taking far longer than they should, or just aren’t being tackled at all? Maybe there is a hidden barrier task that needs to be drawn out before you can continue? I hope this helps!
You can get Emma’s e-book, From Dark Places, here.
February 8, 2010 at 08:41PM
Writing them down is an awesome way of figuring out what’s causing all that delay. I so recognize this. Whenever I’m looking at my list of things to do, there are tasks that seem doable on the list, but are huge in my mind.
I suspect that a lot of them are huge, because there’s one or more of those hidden to-do’s attached to them. It’s really worth stopping for a second and figuring out what they are, because they will cause delays.
Thanks for sharing!
February 8, 2010 at 09:16PM
I don’t really make lists. Well, except for grocery shopping. But the way you presented the subject here makes sense.
Writing things down is logical because it’s better to know step by step what needs to be done, instead of running around playing catch up.
And, understanding the hidden to-do’s will go a long way into better managing one’s project–whatever it is.
I will try doing this because what I’ve been doing is obviously not working out (emotionally).
Thanks!
February 9, 2010 at 10:10AM
Thanks Lodewijk, the difference between what seems doable on a list and doable in real life is scary sometimes, isn’t it?
Hi Marisa! Wow, I can’t imagine not making lists! Saying that though, sometimes I forget to write them for huge long-term projects which I think would benefit – like building an author platform for example. I guess the trick is to not let the list making dictate everything, or act as a placebo, but help instead.
February 10, 2010 at 09:19PM
Hey Emma,
I liked your real-life example. It’s the best way to pass individual insights.
I also liked the emotional aspect that you brought up in the context of creative projects. It’s not always easy to put yourself out there
Many times we focus on looking at the mechanics of things where more emotional perspective would suit better.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
February 11, 2010 at 01:14PM
This was an interesting post, as I think it highlights why business plans can be so daunting – too much hidden inner resistence! Good way to think about it.
February 11, 2010 at 02:59PM
Getting past the “asking other people for help” part would be tough for me. I’m not terribly good at that.
Great insights here, Emma. Thanks!
February 11, 2010 at 07:02PM
Great post Emma. I think sometimes we write out a to-do list expecting the process to be exactly the way it is written on paper. Then we realize that there are also many other factors involved that can slow us down like emotions going wrong or physical energy being drained out.
February 11, 2010 at 07:36PM
@Rafal – thanks! That whole putting yourself out there is so hard, it’s true. Emotional stuff can really gum up the works…
@J-A – Resistance is just the word. There has to be a lot of passion and belief in a project for me to be able to push past that. Is that the same for you?
@Tony – Oh yes – and the stupid thing is that I love helping other people, and never mind being asked. If only I could see it from the other way around!
@Hulbert – Ah, if life were like my lists it would be great! The old version of them that is… But writing out those other bits does help. Writing anything down helps in fact… god bless the written word!
February 15, 2010 at 10:10AM
thanks for the post Emma :)
February 26, 2010 at 11:50AM
I have to admit that I too am terrible at lists. On the odd occassion I have compiled lists the project/tasks have been much easier to do. I seem to have a procrastination thing going on with lists which I struggle with. “i’m busy today, so i’ll start the list thing (and being organised) tommorrow”. Not a good thought.
March 17, 2010 at 07:38AM
Procrastination is my evil barrier to success. I tend to get wrapped around the axel many times while attempting to create things. The truth is, I am a big list person. What I have found is a long list can become my crutch. It seems to hold me back rather than inspire me along. It can become my excuse rather than a real road map. What I have found is limiting my list to 5 to 7 items makes it feel much more doable. Any longer and the procrastination bug creep up and bites me. I become paralyzed and just stare at a blank screen or veer off into twitterland and waste time, time I can never get back.