Anne Lamott tells a story about her father giving advice to her brother when he was in a panic over a school report he had to write about birds, which was due the next day. Her brother was overwhelmed by the size of the project, and was almost in tears. He didn’t know how where to start or how to write the report. Her father put his arm around his shoulder and said, “Bird by bird, Buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

I love that advice. Starting new projects always intimidate me. I want them to be perfect, interesting, fun to work on, and productive. I want to see the final result, big and beautiful like I saw it in my head when I said, “Hey, I should try this!”. But I worry about everything. My God, there is so much to do! Will I actually know how to do it all? Will the work be miserable? Can I get it done in time? Will the results suck? Will I be disappointed, or worse, will I disappoint others? I don’t actually think these things, but they are there in my subconscious, carrying negative emotional weight, encouraging me to procrastinate and do things that I already know I’m good at or that are fun. I know that getting started early and working a little bit every day will get me to my goal and improve the odds of the project being a success. I know that simply completing the project will be worth the effort and expand my skills and knowledge. I know that I have always, without fail, looked back and been glad that I took on new projects. But I still start off with butterflies and worry.

I like to wrap my mind around a project, to see all the parts and how they fit together, to know what has to happen when to keep things moving. Sometimes projects are too complex for this. With those kinds of projects, I find myself raking leaves in the backyard, working out, or cleaning the house. I do not find myself working on the Really Big Project.

To deal with this, I sit down and plan it out on paper. I diagram how things have to happen, working at the 50,000 foot level at first. With the big picture is in place, I start to look at the smaller tasks that make up each part. This may take only one pass-through, or several, depending on just how big or intricate the project is. I then carve the project up into sections, creating mini-projects/milestones. These are usually groups of tasks with a specific outcome, like “create a price sheet for all my wedding photography products” or “prepare the foundation for waterproofing”. Clear cut, and simple. I try to keep these mini-projects in the six to eight step range. Fewer steps is better, since too many creeps me back toward anxiety. I also create milestone deadlines, which I remind myself of daily. Constant reminders of a deadline create a sense of urgency, which is a powerful motivational tool. Without both clear outcomes and deadlines, I tend to get mired down in distractions.

A “bird by bird” approach like this keeps down the perceived scale of projects, reducing my anxiety. It also allows me to see work accomplished, boosting my motivation to get more done. And if there are problems with resources, or skills shortcomings on my part, they are uncovered sooner rather than later, providing time to deal with them.

As I finish each mini-project, I review the overall project plan, make adjustments, and start on the next milestone. The closer I stick to this approach, the better my chances of accomplishing the project goal. What about you? How do you tackle complex projects?