What do you do when you’re overwhelmed with too many ideas? Do you abandon them, or do
you finish what you start? Juggling multiple ideas and goals - to write,
exercise, read more, wake up early and so on - is a tough gig that often begins with
excitement, but ends with procrastination, and failure to finish any one of the ideas
we started. In 2003, Sheena Iyengar, Psychologist and
Professor at Columbia Business School, conducted an 800,000 employee strong study, to investigate
the effects that adding more investment choices had on their participation in retirement saving
plans. At the end of the study period, the researchers
gathered the data and plotted the results to answer the question: would more employees
participate in retirement saving plans, if more investment choices were made available
to them? The researchers discovered that adding more
investment choices, reduced the likelihood that employees would participate in retirement
saving plans. As per the diagram, for every 10 funds added
to the array of options, the rate of participation drops by 2 percent. In fact, for those employees
who chose to invest, adding more investment choices increased the chances that employees
would invest in more conservative funds. This is the paradox of choice. More choice
often leads to less action. The more ideas and goals we pursue, the less likely we’ll
follow through on any of them. And vice versa. There are other explanations for why we fail
to finish what we start. Lack of time, fear of failure, overwhelm from multiple choices
that drain energy and a decline of excitement after starting a new project, can lead to
chronic procrastination. When we get stuck in motion at rest, instead
of motion in action, our time and energy are wasted on efforts that produce little results.
Here are five different ways to avoid overwhelm, get started and follow through on your ideas.
1. Create mini-deadlines. The more time it takes to complete a task,
the greater the likelihood that we fall victim to ‘Parkinson’s Law,’ which states that,
work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
For example, if you have one week to complete a three-hour task, according to Parkinson’s
law, the task will increase in complexity and keep dragging on for the duration of the
week. The best way to combat this problem, is to create mini-deadlines that force you
to finish tasks within a short time frame. 2. Use the 80/20 rule.
In layman’s terms, the 80/20 rule suggests that twenty percent of what you do contributes
to eighty percent of the results you get. In other words, each task can be broken down
into activities that either fall into the twenty or eighty percent group.
For example, if your goal is to exercise more and lose weight, there are some exercises — the
twenty percent, like high intensity sprints - that will significantly contribute to weight
loss, more so than others - the eighty percent, like stretching.
The key is to experiment, discover and focus your time and energy on the twenty percent
activities, that yield the greatest returns. This way, you can get more done by doing less — and
in less time. 3. Trust your gut.
Often, we hesitate to get started and take action on ideas, because of the fear of failure,
rejection and self-doubt. Countless hours are spent researching and planning to take
action, but when it comes time to jump ship, we stay on the boat and fail to follow through
on our plans. In the book “Blink: The Power of Thinking
Without Thinking”, world-renowned journalist and author, Malcolm Gladwell, makes a strong
case that, often, snap judgements made within seconds, lead to better decisions than a more
cautious, thoroughly planned approach. Next time you’re not sure of what to do
next or how to do it, trust your gut instinct and take action on the first thought that
crosses your mind, because more times than not, you’ll probably be on the right track.
4. Develop the habit of finishing. Many people have mastered the art of starting,
but few have built the habit of finishing. Starting is easier than finishing, but the
bulk of the results we seek, lie at the finish line.
The process of building the habit of finishing, is just like any other habit. First, you start
small and build up, with a reasonable expectation of how long it will take to form a habit.
Then, you can make small changes to your environment to make it easier to finish whatever you set
out to do. 5. Practice Quitting.
Contrary to popular opinion, the most productive, successful people, quit on their goals all
the time — they just know what to quit and when to do so.
The upside of quitting is that you redirect time and energy wasted on an unfruitful idea
or goal, towards another more rewarding venture. Here’s a quick inventory check. If the costs
of pursuing an idea has outweighed the benefits — over a period of time — perhaps it’s time
to consider cutting your losses. Although it may hurt at first, down the line, you’ll
free up more time to focus on better ideas. Whilst it can be exciting to start new ideas
and goals, if we don’t finish what we start, valuable time and energy — that can’t
be recovered — will go to waste. Falling in love with starting is easy. Falling
in love with finishing is hard. But, if you can learn to fall in love with the art of
finishing — and the process of overcoming adversity, failures and working around obstacles — you’ll
consistently follow through on your ideas.