Finishing a project you don’t want to work on

Recently I completed a project that was on my list forever. To be honest I didn’t want to do it. I had a drain in my bathtub that needed to be replaced. The plug didn’t work but it was mostly aesthetic. The problem was I looked at it EVERY DAY and though “I really should fix that…” – How is that for starting your day in the “I don’t want to get something done mode”?

In the end, the task was just as hard as I had expected but I learned a few lessons in the process of doing it. Some of these lessons I’d like to share!

Build on momentum

One of the things that really helped in this task is that I had momentum going for me. I had completed a bunch of tasks throughout the day and I just kept going. It may not seem like a big thing but this can be huge. It take tremendously more effort to get started than to continue moving once you are up and going. If you really don’t want to get started with a big project, pick off a couple of smaller items first, it should help.

Use resources

Another thing that made a big difference was that I had the right tools. Some I had sitting around for a while (and even tried to use previously) but I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing. It wasn’t just the “tools” that I took advantage of though, I also used the people around me. I talked to the guy at the hardware store and also called my dad to get his thoughts. When I still felt I needed more information I looked things up online until I felt comfortable with the task.

Push HARD

Once I had all the things I needed and I knew I was heading in the right direction (quite literally actually) all that was left was to put my shoulder to the wheel and give it my all. It actually took WAY more effort than I thought it would (doesn’t it always?) but in the end I was able to get it to move and checked the task off my list. YAY!

 


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