So the sun is shining, the days are lighter for longer and suddenly we feel like we are ready to start doing new activities. With our heady enthusiasm and natural increase in energy, we jump in and launch lots of new projects. As these things are exciting and new, we find it easy to take the first few steps.
Soon though, we can find that we now have many more projects that are now ‘started’ and suddenly motivation and energy wanes as overwhelm sets in. Does this sound familiar? At work and/or home?
The overwhelm is real because your brain’s conscious attention is limited every day and there are now lots of ‘open loops’ – things that are taking up your attention which are not finished. You may not realise just how much energy and attention in your brain is actually distracted by them because if the projects have been unfinished for a while, your conscious brain will have got very good at ignoring them for you. How many times have you walked past that mending pile or the bulky things that you navigate to get out of the door? In places of work, it is the stacks of boxes and piles of paper that I routinely see which have become part of the office interior decoration. Or the 1000s of emails sitting in Inboxes…and out of date business goals.
To ensure energy is unleashed for new goals, I often support my clients to finish ‘stuck’ projects, or let go of ever completing them, so that they can move forward with maximum motivation. This can also mean making a decision to stop something e.g. leave a job, a relationship or a habit / unwanted behaviour. Whilst this may sound negative, it is actually really liberating. We can carry outdated versions of ourselves around for years and it is good to press ‘update’ and recognise whether the direction that we are heading is still where we want to go.
Therefore, to sustain your momentum, consider what you need to finish first? Look around your home and office and notice what you are you are not routinely ‘seeing’ every day (taking photos of rooms is effective to get a fresh perspective… or ask a ‘helpful’ visitor!).
As for other projects that are not obviously on show and need completing, you know what these are already, don’t you?