A little today

There are some changes you must do immediately. They are drastic, hard and mess up the normal routine of the day. Things like taking medication when you’ve never really had to before or driving a different way to work because the road is being torn up.  These breaks in our schedule cause stress, at least at first before things settle back into the comfort of the day.

But some things you can do gradually. My goal for organizing is a good example of small changes that over time will actually save me more time in the long run.

It’s a big project when you look at the whole. I’ve got a lot of clutter and a lot of stuff that the back of my head tells me might be useful in the future. But in reality, I know I’m never going to get back into those size 10 jeans from 10 years ago. I’ve got a colander in a box in the garage for when I make jelly. Will I ever use that again?

But I can’t allow myself to look at the big picture just yet. When I do, I can see myself rolling my eyes and shaking my head. It’s not a project I want to tackle right now.

But.

But I can tackle my writing/crafting corner in the living room. It needs some organizing. Separating notebooks from yarn and thread and beads would probably help me find the basket of pens buried in there somewhere. The box of computer stuff needs to go elsewhere as it’s in a hard to reach location and the box is awkward.  It would leave room for other things that I need that is in the kitchen.

Organizing in little steps like these is often a no-stress way to deal with a larger project. That goes for writing too. When a writer looks at a novel idea, sometimes the “WHOLE STORY” gets in the way of writing a scene or a chapter. The weight of 100,000 words is just too great. The idea and the dream of writing a novel dies.

That’s why I break things down. While I started my writing life as a pantser, I’ve become more of an outliner. I didn’t think it was possible but it is. I’m more comfortable with a story when I know scene 1,2,3 and so on. Sure there are still surprises and obstacles, but little goals help me complete projects.

So how do you break down a big project? Do you write lists, break it down or outline a goal?

I’d love to hear your ideas.