Launch day. For the past three months, we'd been working on a major overhaul to the company's website and now was the deadline for pulling the trigger. There were still last minute details to take care of — a banner ad wasn't right, social media icons weren't linked and a few products lacked proper descriptions. But, to my mild amazement, a very large task scheduled to be completed in a short time period was ready to go —on time. When we began, I couldn't possibly see how it was all going to come together and get finished by the due date, everything working properly and looking sharp. But, here it was. Minor DNS issues pushed back our release by a few hours, but by mid-day we had traffic on our new site. Our CEO was ecstatic with the results. For the rest of the week, he made a point to tell us daily how pleased he was with the final outcome.Launch days like that remind me that good work rarely gets completed all in one day. Things happen in pieces, moving forward in baby steps and leaps before finally coming together at the deadline in a flurry of activity. The secret to getting a successful new site launched on time, or any project for that matter, comes down to simply pushing things forward each day.
It's how things get done.
Prominent on my desk is an ever evolving list of ongoing projects and initiatives. And everyday, I go through it and review the next actions to be completed that will push the boulders a little further up the hill towards the finish line. It might mean grinding it out and getting my part of the project completed. It might be a phone call to a team leader or an email to a developer. Sometimes those conversations are simply a weekend debrief followed by a quick status update. And sometimes, it's a kick in the pants reminder that a timeline has been missed and no one's coming forth to explain why.
David Allen promotes tracking and recording Next Actions as a foundation for getting things done, which is why his very detailed and methodical book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity is a worthy read. Did I mention detailed? This guy goes into the minutiae of organization, which can be a bit daunting. However, I guarantee it's worth picking up a copy.
It's easy to get overwhelmed, viewing an ongoing project from a wide angle and seeing all the pieces that need to come together — and wondering if they ever will. Too many great initiatives suffer from poor quality and execution because somewhere along the way, the mojo was lost. Someone wasn't maintaining a narrow focus and actively pushing the small pieces forward. Consequently, the flame that lit the project burns out and getting that fire going again can take double the time and energy it took to start up in the first place. In my experience, once the momentum is lost, it rarely comes back as strong.
When I get home feeling mentally sapped from a hectic day, often all I want is the couch and back-to-back episodes of House Hunters. But, I know there are other things I want to do — write that eMail for the non-profit. Read that article. Research new trail bikes. I know it won't all get done that night, but if I can complete one next action and propel it forward, over the course of a few nights, it all magically gets done without much effort.
Agreed, sometimes problems and creative blocks are solved from taking a break. So pause, if need be. But, never let a time out go on too long. Keep the next action ready to go and after a healthy amount of time, resume shunting that project down the pipeline towards completion.
Want that oh-so-brief but mildly uplifting sensation of knowing you've accomplished something today? Review the ongoing projects from the ground level, seeing all the pieces and then ask yourself, "What's one thing I can do today to to push things forward?" Steve Jobs said it — "Great artists ship." Whether it's great or not can't be determined unless you get it out the door. - K
