Ruminations

The Momentum of Progress

I don't generally break things on purpose (though I think we all can agree that the printer in Office Space had it coming). When I was a kid I would take things apart to see how they worked. I didn't mean to break them, but I couldn't always put them back together. I spent a large portion of my allowance at garage sales buying old radios, tape recorders and the like. Most of them deserved a better send off.

Today we're going to perform a thought experiment. We're going to break something imaginary, which is much cheaper than breaking something real, and it means we don't have to worry about putting it back together. And we're going to do it to learn about momentum. Not quite Newton's definition of momentum, but something similar: how progress begets progress.

While finishing up this post I stumbled on this quote by Gil Penchina, "Momentum begets momentum, and the best way to start is to start."

I'd like you to imagine a large, ornamentally-decorated terra sigillata bowl. Make sure it's beautifully-detailed and in pristine condition, because if we're going to break it we should get our money's worth. Now, while standing on a hard surface, hold your imaginary bowl out in front of you and drop it. If your bowl is anything like mine, it shattered into many pieces.

Ahh, that felt good. But why did we break a historical treasure? Because I want you to look at the broken pieces and think about how you would clean it up. Most of us would pick up the large pieces first and then work out a way to get the smaller ones without cutting ourselves. Today I'm going to ask you to think about it differently.

We each know the struggle of having too much work on our plates. It’s never a good feeling (unless you’re a professional eater). There’s an easy test to see if your To-Do list is overloaded. Can you answer "Yes" to any of these questions?

• Are there more items on your list than you can memorize?
• Are there items on your list you don’t remember adding?
• Do you use groups, sub-sections, color-coding and/or an organizational chart?
• Is it tear-stained?

It’s not uncommon for this to feel overwhelming, like you can’t get your arms around it, nor figure out where to start. The larger items often grab our eye, just like the broken pieces of our imaginary bowl. Tackling the big stuff first seems like the natural course of action, but it isn’t always the best way to dig yourself out of your To-Do hole. So, we’re going to channel Dr. Leo Marvin’s advice to Bob Wiley: "Baby steps, Bob. Baby steps."

I frequently promote breaking a large project down into measurable deliverables. Or as Dr. Marvin would say, "Small, reasonable goals." Measurable deliverables are small tasks, that have definable deliverables, that bring you closer to your milestone. To chip away at a large task, breaking it down into bite-sized pieces. Programmers have to do this with everything, often down to ridiculous levels of detail. Philosophers may equate this to eating an elephant one bite at a time.

How would you break down the steps to pick up the pieces of our broken bowl? It seems pretty simple, but it’s more than just kneel down, reach in front of you and pick up the pieces. Working through how this really happens is a thought experiment for another day.

Let's try to generate some momentum by getting something done. Something small. Something that doesn't have any dependencies on anything else on our list. Something that will help us get out of our rut and into our groove. Let's take the first bite of our elephant. Let's pick up the smallest piece of our bowl and see how that feels. That wasn't too bad, was it?

These first steps can seem daunting, especially if we've been held back by the enormity of our workload. Don't worry. Just repeat after me, "Baby steps, Bob. Baby steps."

There's a feeling of relief and accomplishment now that we've knocked one thing off our list, even if it was the smallest piece. How about tackling the next small task? Once we do we have achieved momentum. It's that simple.

With the smaller tasks behind us we have no choice but to move on to the larger ones. And that's OK, because we're ready. Our momentum and confidence make addressing these challenges easier.

This measurable deliverables approach isn't just limited to projects. It can also be applied to everyday life if/when you're feeling overwhelmed, or even depressed. Getting something done, anything, can make a real difference in how you feel. Small things like making your bed, taking out the trash or recycling, washing the dishes or doing a load of laundry, are short-term, low-commitment tasks that can help chip away at a seeming insurmountable amount of work that's just waiting for you.

Feeling like we just have too much on our plate is never a good thing, whether it's on a project or life in general. Sometimes you have to break something, be it a routine, an unhealthy affiliation or even a terra sigillata bowl. Because cleaning it up could be the first step of your momentum; the first step of your new direction; the first step of your unstoppable progress.

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