Six Steps to Tame Way Too Many Projects

Too tight; too long. With added arch supports, they fit even worse. I bought these Rowley Slims Vans in the 00s because they looked cool, and I thought I’d get back into skateboarding, but I never bought a skateboard. I couldn’t even wear the shoes more than every once in a while. They hurt my arches because they are a size 11, and I wear a 9½–10. I was too impatient to special order ones that fit me. I was going to start skateboarding with clown shoes on a skateboard I hadn’t purchased yet. What was I thinking? My life has been filled with false starts like this. Intentions the size of mountains, but follow through measured in millimeters.

Since the writer’s conference in June, I’ve floundered a little. My days have been filled with family, as well as the fallout from pushing myself too hard. I have too much to do and too little time to do it. This isn’t a new situation I find myself in, however. My problem this time has been that I’ve used wishful thinking to map out my summer goals. Like when I bought the Vans, I’m enamored with the idea of these projects, but I didn’t think them through before committing to them. I often refer to this as Multi-Irons Syndrome.

People have a tendency to start more projects than they finish because it’s easy to come up with ideas, but hard work to bring them to life. Adults with ADHD have this problem, too, but their natural aversion to boredom amps up this process. If they don’t pay attention, they can have ten or more projects going and no projects near completion.

The way I avoid this problem is:

Write down all my current open projects.Decide which are the top three.Organize the top three by priority.Resolve to work on the top project, and only the top project. (The hardest step!)Finish a project.