Sometimes when the job at hand is too big, it’s hard for me to even start chipping away at it. However, if I break it down into sections, or “bite-sized” pieces, it’s way more manageable. This is not a novel concept: we cut up our food instead of trying to eat a whole pancake or steak at once; any organizational tool worth its salt will teach you to “batch” similar tasks or items to gain efficiency and clarity.
However, I do think this familiar concept is one that it’s easy to forget to apply. So here’s a red flag I watch for in my own life that always clues me in that it’s time to re-assess my Plan: PROCRASTINATION. Now you might have a different warning signal, but as a 3w2/enfj, my natural inclination is actually not to procrastinate. So if I find myself thinking, “Why weed the Scabiosa Fama when the farm is falling apart?!” Or “Why should I even try to return emails when I get so many a day that I’ll never catch up?!” When the overwhelm creeps in and I feel like I’m not big enough… THAT’S when I know for sure that I’ve put too much on my plate. I need to take a few hours to 1. realign with my goals, 2. assess the big picture, and then 3. work backwards to break down the big pieces into do-able “bites.” I might need to delegate some of the pieces. I might need to hire help for others, or outsource… But in my experience, every time I start to feel like throwing in the towel because the job is too big, the REAL problem isn’t the project… it’s my *mindset* about the project and my PLAN (or lack thereof) to conquer it.