Sticking to a Project

By Timothy R Butler | Posted at 5:51 AM

I'm pretty good about getting stuff that needs to be done completed. Projects for clients, church stuff, school assignments, and so on. But, I've always had a hard time getting stuff I do on the side complete. Take SAFARI — I've been developing this CMS for six years now. But I've taken several multi-year breaks along the way.

Then there is what I'm writing for amusement. I've started writing a play, a novel and, most recently, an epic poem. Oh, and a sonnet sequence. The novel was started earliest, and is the one I'll probably finish first, but I find myself always starting new projects instead of working on it. If I focused all of my energy on one of these things, I might actually finish it. Instead, I keep working on them all.

It's not so much that I get bored with a project. It's that there are so many things I'd like to do, and I find I can't resist working on all of those things (well, not all). Since the aforementioned stuff has primarily existed in the realm of hobby, I guess it isn't a bit deal, but I still feel like I should focus myself a bit better.

Right now, I'm thinking I should shift the epic and play to the background and keep fiddling with the novel and sonnet sequence. The former because it might actually become a body of work I can do something with (e.g. publish), the latter because it is a good mental exercise and is an enjoyable way to capture present experiences.

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4 comments posted so far.

Re: Sticking to a Project

I can recognize your situation completely. With too many projects you want to work on simultaneously, the ones where you have a deadline to meet (or someone who depends on your work) will have to come first. On the same time, if you don’t have time to progress with an on-the-side project, it’s hard to stay motivated :-/

Posted by Flip - Mar 10, 2005 | 10:36 AM- Location: Sweden

Re: Sticking to a Project

Ditto on both the article and Flip’s comments…

Posted by Josiah Ritchie - Mar 10, 2005 | 9:13 PM- Location: Lanham, MD

Re: Sticking to a Project

I hear ya Tim. I’m very similar. As Flip suggested, I do the absolute deadline stuff first and then try to prioritize the rest.

Posted by Jason - Mar 10, 2005 | 11:15 PM- Location: Ventura, CA

Re: Sticking to a Project

Sounds like were all in the same boat then. :-) I am quite good, as I said, at getting the deadline stuff done, it’s mostly just making myself stick to just one thing when I have some free time. Since none of it has to be done, it’s just a matter of sticking to something arbitrarily, which is what I need to do.

Posted by Timothy R. Butler - Mar 11, 2005 | 7:14 PM- Location: Missouri

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