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Creative Commons License photo credit: PPDIGITAL

Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.

-Thomas Edison

I don’t know if you are like me, but probably once a week I have one of the greatest ideas a person could ever had. Seriously. These ideas are life changing and in just a short time I’ll be filthy rich with my own private island to prove it.

The problem is that they stay ideas. I might discuss them with a few friends and they might grow a little, but often they stay on paper or only a little bit gets done.

Time is always the enemy.

The reason most of these things don’t get done is because, “I don’t have enough time” or “I’m too busy”. Time is the scapegoat for all our foibles.

Now I’m not acting like I have the answer. I just recognize that I have a problem, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Here are a few things that I am going to do that should help.

Prioritize my ideas. Write down all my ideas and put some notes explaining the project. Then analyze them to see which ideas are the most doable.

Doable projects should be the ones that can either get done quickly or I have a strong passion for it. Some ideas of mine could take months whereas I’ve been putting off some things that could take one weekend. Some ideas are pet projects. Some are to help others. Some are to make money. I need to look over this list and pick the items that are most aligned with what I want to accomplish right now. If I am more focused on wanting to make money then I should complete those first. If I want to make some new community type site, I’ll do that one.

Set short deadlines. After I realize what I want to do most, I need to break it down into manageable pieces and set short deadlines to accomplish them. I’ve been reading Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week and this is a technique he recommends. It’s called Parkinson’s Law. It says that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” By setting short goals you don’t waste time on parts that aren’t needed to fulfill the goal. The short time frame causes you to recognize what parts are most needed for completion and get those done quickly.

Start it and Finish it. I’m pretty good at starting projects, but finishing them is the problem. Finishing a project always requires so much extra unplanned work that most projects don’t get finished. This joke I’ve heard about consultants applies here, “The first 90% of the project only takes 10% of the total time to complete it.” The trick to finishing a project is nothing magical; you just don’t give up until it’s done. Check it off your list and start on the next one.