Eating a Whole Chocolate Cake

When faced with a daunting project, it’s easy to decide to do something else. Anything else.

When I bought my house last fall, I knew it needed some updating. Nothing had been updated since it was built in 1964. The good thing is that anything I do is an improvement! As I wrote my house project list, I could feel myself getting overwhelmed. It would have been easy to write up the list and not look at it again.

My friend Donna Smallin wrote in her book The One Minute Organizer that trying to organize the entire house at one time is like trying to eat a chocolate cake in one bite. So true! When you have a cake, you have to slice it and then eat it bite by bite. I tell my frustrated and overwhelmed organizing clients the same thing. Bite by bite. Little by little. One thing at a time.  

When you face a big task, break it into bite-sized pieces. Cross each “bite” off the list as you accomplish it. Then reward yourself when you accomplish your task. Perhaps a bit of chocolate?