I’ve started on a big sewing project, which I haven’t done in a while. I’ve been doing a lot of smaller projects, but this is a large garment, from scratch, no pattern, and lots of unusual details. It’s a new robe or dressing gown, but one that is inspired by a Late Victorian Tea Gown, and it’s going to be very warm, and very extra! I’ve kind of needed this new dressing gown for a long time, but have been daunted about starting because there’s so much to be done with this garment. That’s what I wanted to talk about today, because this is something super relatable for us as parents, but also for our children with things they’re doing, like school or their hobbies.
Whether you’re doing a big craft project, a school assignment, tackling a big cleaning job, a home renovation, or even colouring in, there is a very simple strategy to make even the biggest job feel achievable and accessible… Chunks! You could call them sections or steps, but I like chunks because saying I’m chunkifying a project makes me want to giggle, so I go with it. I’ve seen this same method used by many highly productive people, and I’ll show you why.
Whatever task you have ahead of you, but especially those tasks that you find daunting, if you break them down into specific, achievable chunks or steps, it removes a lot of the psychological hurdles, because you now have one small thing to focus on, instead of a large group of branching things. This also helps to prevent decision fatigue because you know what you need to do, and in what order, to finish your project, rather than constantly figuring everything out as you go.
So what I like to do is sit down with a notebook and pen (there’s a smidge of ‘productive procrastination’ about this part of the task that’s very appealing to the part of me that really struggles with the motivation to start something!) and outline the major chunks of a project. From there, I like to break down the big chunks into smaller chunks, and from there, I like to write myself steps that I can cross off as I complete them. There’s a little dopamine hit whenever you cross something off your list that is feels so good and even helps to motivate you to finish the next step, too! For my current project, this chunkification might look like this…
If we teach our children that anything is achievable if you break it down into sensible chunks, they’ll feel more comfortable when they come up against big jobs or projects that might have otherwise felt super daunting. The same goes for you! Next time you have a big project on your plate, try breaking it into chunks and gobble them up!
