by Dustin Geddis

I found an interesting article from a fellow blogger, Mark McGuinness(@markmcguinness) on How to Get Things Done When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed http://bit.ly/cPycca, and I thought it was spot on.

It’s safe to say that a majority of us have trouble getting things done in both our personal and professional lives.  There is so much to do with so little time where does one even start?  Below are some tips from Mark on how to break through the resistance and produce.

1. Focus on what you can control – we tend to worry about what we can’t control.

• Make a list of the things that are stopping you / worrying you about the project at hand
• Identify what you don’t have control over and eliminate it from your to-do list.  Only focus on what you do have control over.

2. Take that list and break it into bite size tasks

• It can be overwhelming when we look at our to-do list and we see a task as daunting as “paint upstairs of house”.  Where do we even start?  We get overwhelmed and panic and eventually put it off.
• Instead, break that project into smaller tasks.  For example, first we may need to pick out a paint color, then measure the room, followed by going to Home Depot to buy supplies, etc…

3. Talk to others – externalize your feelings

• Sometimes just saying it out loud helps find a solution
• Target those who have done what you are trying to do and use their experiences
• And take it a step further and collaborate with them

4. Start – roll up your sleeves and start

• You can’t put it off for ever!

I added a step 5 from Seth Godin‘s book “Linchpins“

5. Ship it!

• The lizard brain, the part of your brain that operates out of fear, doesn’t want you to finish the project.  What if my friends don’t like it, my boss hates it, no one reads it, etc…
• We have to see the anxiety and sit on it.  Don’t let it make our decisions.  Instead, sit on it, feel it, and when it passes push the send button, start painting, make the phone call, type your blog post.  The more we ship, the more success we will have.