Curious how others deal with this: if I focus on one vertical slice of a long project (e.g. some design problem), I become annoyed that everything else remains frozen for long periods; if I work on a horizontal slice (a few pieces at once), bulk progress is very slow. Any escape?
Conversation
The key question: What’s the most important thing I could be doing right now to make progress on the project?
Do that. Don’t worry about the parts that remain frozen. If you keep answering the question, eventually, their time will come.
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I really like this angle, Ken!
Sensing into why I hesitate to do this: I think it's because the scope/definition of my projects are often so contingent, continuously-negotiated. And so I feel (right or wrong) I need to pay attention to the rest to shape the scope/def'n over time
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The N-week(s) cycle might help, especially if you set a hard deadline.
Make a provisional meta-level decision, allow yourself to work in that direction until your deadline, and don’t fret too much over it until the deadline comes.
Of course, this is an art, not a science.
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I often wind up with a dilemma. There’s a thing I think is most important and there’s some other thing I want to do more—my head vs my heart. I try to strike a balance when I choose.
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Replying to
This convo's helping me realize: my weekly/monthly/quarterly goal-setting process is interfering here.
1. Looking forward I (naturally) tend to list several goals, which pushes towards spreading myself thin.
2. If I have a goal-list, I'm less likely to ask your Q day-to-day.
Replying to
Gotcha! Let me know if this most-important-thing idea turns out to be helpful to you.
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