Here’s What You Really Need to Do to Tackle Big Projects

Tackling large projects can make or break your work productivity. If you want to truly be productive and be able to tackle your most challenging projects at work, here's the one skill that you truly need to master.

Forget Productivity – Boost the Psychology

According to research, you want to create tangible goals and deadlines for yourself when setting goals. A vague and abstract goal can create more discourse when it comes to your achieving what it is you want to accomplish. A lack of motivation is often the culprit behind the lag of completing these tasks.

Cal Newport explores how “knowledge trumps productivity”:

“You can’t force your brain to generate motivation. It will do so only when it believes in both your goal and your plan for accomplishing the goal[…]If you find that you’re still failing to get work done, even when you’re more flexible with your scheduling, the problem is not your productivity, it’s instead that your mind is not yet sold that you know how to succeed with your general goal of becoming a writer.”

For projects that require generalizing written content, Newport encourages abandoning the tried-and-true advice of “writing every day” or having a strict writing schedule. Instead, he promotes flexible goal setting – “squeezing in as much deep work toward my goal as is practically possible.”

Rigid scheduling may help bring out maximum productivity for some people, but for others it can add undue stress and make it even more difficult to complete big tasks. Instead, choosing to work on a schedule that emphasizes clear goals and a flexible schedule can help lead you to success.

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Written by:
Cameron is a tech and culture journalist, comic book enthusiast, and lives near New York City. A graduate of Stockton University, she's using her words to shift the world of online journalism, one byline at a time. When she's not writing, she can be found reading sci-fi novels, collecting succulents, and planning her next obnoxious hair color. Cameron is an editorial fellow at Tech.Co. Send your tips to cameron@tech.co or tweet @BlkGirlManifest.
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