Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is for when you are working through a big
Speaker 1: project and are feeling stumped or unmotivated, go ahead and
Speaker 1: do the easiest part first. It might not be much,
Speaker 1: but it is something, and something tends to be better
Speaker 1: than nothing. I write a lot, but even so, some
Speaker 1: things are harder to write than others. I don't generally
Speaker 1: have lots of time to just stare at a blank page.
Speaker 1: So whenever something feels difficult, I need a strategy. Here's
Speaker 1: what it is. I write the easiest or most obvious
Speaker 1: part first. Maybe it's a book review where I know
Speaker 1: I'm going to use one particularly wise quote and one
Speaker 1: rather silly quote that the author included. Even if I
Speaker 1: don't know how I am going to start the review,
Speaker 1: I can write those two paragraphs. Then maybe something else
Speaker 1: will occur to me, and now I've got at least
Speaker 1: a quarter of the review done. Perhaps you've got a
Speaker 1: big project going too. If things are seeming challenging, just
Speaker 1: do whatever seems most doable. If you are doing employee
Speaker 1: of valuations, there is probably some straightforward stuff about projects
Speaker 1: and tenure and whatever else that you can put down.
Speaker 1: If you are giving a presentation, maybe make the slide
Speaker 1: that you know you are going to include. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're literally talking the slide with your bio and contact
Speaker 1: information if that's what it takes, or the title. Hey,
Speaker 1: now we're getting somewhere. I know. There's a school of
Speaker 1: thought that says to eat that frog. That is, do
Speaker 1: the most challenging or difficult part first, because everything else
Speaker 1: will seem easy afterwards. There's definitely something to that. I
Speaker 1: think people are generally better off starting their days with
Speaker 1: challenging work or work that requires focus. That's because everyone
Speaker 1: runs out of steam. But within that focused time that
Speaker 1: you have carved out, if you find yourself just beating
Speaker 1: your head against the wall and feeling frustrated, give yourself
Speaker 1: the gift of doing something on this big project. Just
Speaker 1: do the easiest part first. Once the easiest part is done,
Speaker 1: you have something. It is almost always easier to turn
Speaker 1: something into something more than to turn nothing into something.
Speaker 1: As you are creating the easiest slide in that deck,
Speaker 1: you will get an idea for another one, and then
Speaker 1: you will remember that cute anecdote you wanted to tell
Speaker 1: at the opening, and next thing you know, you are
Speaker 1: pretty far into your project. Work creates its own momentum,
Speaker 1: but you have to get that momentum going. So I
Speaker 1: just copied down the quotes from the book I'm reviewing
Speaker 1: that I plan to use with a book proposal. I
Speaker 1: could just go ahead and fill in my bio. I
Speaker 1: am pretty sure what my bio and headshot look like.
Speaker 1: Then suddenly the rest of the project doesn't feel nearly
Speaker 1: so overwhelming. Start with the easiest part, and sometimes the
Speaker 1: harder parts become easier. You just have to get going.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.