We all have humongous projects that make us cringe and prefer to shove aside. “It’s just too large to think about now.”

We keep saying that everyday and before you know it, months or years have passed. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.

Ask any doer and they will tell you, all you need to do is chunk it down. That’s how you eat an elephant, one bite at a time. Break the project up into small steps.

That is perfectly sound advice but I think it needs to go deeper. It needs to be broken down – ironically. Here’s what I mean.

My coach advised me to create videos for each product on a site. My immediate reaction was OK! I can do that. However, when I sat down to do it, I realized I had 12 of them to do and if you’ve ever created videos you know it’s not something you can whip up in 5 minutes.

You need to script it, get your copy down pat if you are selling something, then you rehearse. You prepare your materials – slides if you are going that route. Even if you do a talking head video, you have to get ready physically and psyched up for the camera. Are you as tired just thinking about all that as I am?

So here I am with this project. The first thing I wrote on the to do is “Create videos for courses” but trouble is, each video is different and has multiple steps. Then, I started writing down “Create video for ABC course” but even that was overwhelming. What I should do is more like this.

Week 1 goal, complete video for product ABC

To-do:

1. Write script for product ABC (only!)
2. Create powerpoint
3. Rehearse presentation
4. Record presentation
5. Edit recording
6. Upload video
7. Add video to landing page

All in all here are two take aways.

1. Get it out of your head – write it down. I’m not one of those people who can remember everything. There’s a lot on my mind at any given time of day and it’s not all about business either. If it isn’t written down – even quickly scribbled – I can’t focus. The good thing about this, it not only helps you figure out what to do but shows you what kind of progress you are making.
2. Make the steps tiny. Small enough to be completed in one day or less. Be honest here. One day means the hours you can actually work. If you can only devote 2 hours a day to this project then the task has to be small enough to complete in 2 hours. If it takes longer, that task is too large and needs to be broken down further.

Final note, usually these projects are only gigantic in our minds. As we move through it, one tiny step at a time, you’ll find it really isn’t that bad. Hope this helps you greatly and good luck!