WHY things don’t get done: Break it down

Welcome to Part Two in the WHY things don’t get done series.

Last week’s reason was not knowing what to do next (you can find that here).

This week we’re talking about knowing what to do but not doing it.

This might happen because you haven’t broken things down enough, are afraid of getting it done, are waiting for inspiration, are feeling lethargic, or some other reason.

Sometimes I have clients who KNOW what to do next, but they don’t know how to approach it. It’s a black hole project (a project that you don’t know how long it will take, and it feels like it will such ALL your time and energy).

The reason you’re not doing it will determine what your next best step is.

The reason you’re not doing something isn’t always obvious either.

To get to the reason, you need to remove obstacles to make it easier to see what’s going on.

I’ve had clients who thought they were afraid to finish a project, but the actual problem was that the project wasn’t broken down enough. Once they broke it down, it was no longer a black hole project, and they were able to complete it quickly.

Alternatively, I’ve seen clients break things down into a manageable checklist and not do it. But this allowed them to see what they were actually avoiding.

Breaking things down into smaller doable steps (or creating a checklist) can sometimes provide the momentum that allows you to be inspired or move through the blah feeling.

And sometimes, it provides the momentum that allows you to get inspired or move through the blah feeling.

When it comes to inspiration, a quote I return to a lot is:

If you want to create something and you’re not feeling inspired, take a closer look as to why that is or just ignore it and start doing stuff.

Craig Benzine

Often action creates inspiration (and not the other way around).

To sum up, break projects and tasks down into smaller steps. Then one of three things will happen:

1. you’ll get the project/task done or 
2. it will shine a light on the real reason it’s not getting done or 
3. it will give you the momentum to finish it.

Next week, we’ll discuss reason #3 for WHY things don’t get done.

If you prefer listening/watching, you can catch this on YouTube or in my free FB group.