One Step at a Time

By nature, I am not a linear thinker; I am, rather, a chaotic thinker. I tend to see the whole project at once in my mind and let the ideas just flash and crash in at will. This is GREAT for brainstorming!

Unfortunately, it's not so great when it actually comes down to doing something about a project; a) the project seems overwhelming, and b) it's very difficult to know where to start.

Seeing the big picture is good, but to get it done, you have to break it down into steps, and worse, you have to do them in order. You can think about what it takes to make a cake in any order you like, but you still have to crack the eggs before you can mix the batter. So while I'm a chaotic thinker, I've had to train myself to become a linear doer.

Each project will need it's own set of steps, but these are usually in there somewhere for me:

• Ideas
• Thumbnails
• Roughs
• Feedback
• Finishes
• Delivery

If you can further break down each step into smaller chunks (units, chapters, pages, etc), even better! Breaking a project down into logical, bite-sized steps makes it seem manageable rather than overwhelming. It also allows you to see and track your progress, which can be very motivating.

Comments

[donna]

Glad to know I'm not the only "Chaotic" thinker! Thanks for the reminder to break it down :)

[roz]

I am so glad I'm not the only one where the brain goes all over the place. I need to organize bitesize chunks in other areas of my life I think!

[Vivian Hadding]

I stumbled onto this post and found just what I needed to hear.

Thank you.
Vivian

[Feisty]

Great post. I am totally a chaotic thinker and this made a lot of sense to me. I'm a great list-maker, so making a list of the smaller steps shouldn't be too hard. :)