By Poornima Vijayashanker I often jump right out of bed and get to work (I’m writing this post at 5:50am PST). Some people would …
By Poornima Vijayashanker
I often jump right out of bed and get to work (I’m writing this post at 5:50am PST). Some people would say it’s easy for me because I’m an “early bird”, but a few years ago I preferred to start my day later, and I had the option to. Instead of waking up early, I’d stay up later and was much more of a “night owl”.I became an early bird out of necessity. My commitments to work and my family grew. I still had other things I wanted to accomplish, and I didn’t want to give up the things I love doing or stop spending time with the people I love. I had to figure out how to make it all work!
I discovered that I can have uninterrupted time for my passion projects in the in the morning hours while the rest of the world (at least on the west coast) is enjoying a sweet slumber. Plus, the act of jumping out of bed is a good test of whether or not I’m truly passionate about a project or just mildly interested.
This year I have 2 passion projects:
The first one is done, and I’m working towards the second.
They’ve both been a challenge, because doing what you love can be tiring, but I’ve slowly figured out how to make progress without having to sacrifice sleep or time with people I care about.
Deadlines drive action.
I’m not talking about aggressive deadlines set by a drill sergeant – the ones that you despise. People often complain about these deadlines, and how they leave them with little time to do a good job.
I’m talking about deadlines to passion projects. Things that you care about and want to do a good job on, because you want to feel proud and accomplished. When you don’t set deadlines, passion projects become endless, and eventually you stop jumping out of bed, begrudgingly hitting the snooze button instead. Or there’s just so much to do that the deadline seems not only aggressive, but completely impossible.
This happens when people pile their plate too high. They’re training for a half-marathon, have 3 side projects, are studying French and Spanish, and operating on 5 or fewer hours of sleep at night. I know this type – I used to be THAT person. But fortunately I got hit by a van, and stopped drinking 3 shots of espresso a day 😀 I’ve learned that to produce quality, I have to limit the number of passion projects I’m working on. Notice I have only 2, and I’ve split them through the year. I didn’t work on them concurrently.
Deadlines are important, even self-imposed ones because they keep you moving forward. Most people miss deadlines because they work linearly. Call me different, but I prefer to work backwards.
For example, the deadline for my TEDx talk was May 10th. Instead of counting down the days to May 10th and trying to cram things in as I approached it, I sat down in February and took stock of all the things I needed to do:
- Submit a proposal
- Create an outline
- Schedule coaching sessions
- Read Presentation Zen
- Create slides
- Submit slides
- Book flight
- Transportation
- Rehearse
- Pick out an outfit
Some of these had hard deadlines, such as submitting a proposal. Others tasks had dependencies: I had to read Presentation Zen before I could create and submit slides. Finally, there were things on this list that I considered busy work, and I could do them or I could delegate them!
One month before the talk I was just rehearsing twice a week, and of course figuring out what I was going to wear 🙂 Having small deliverables kept me on track and not feeling overwhelmed. I also didn’t worry about what was ahead because I knew what was coming up. I also didn’t worry about things like transportation, because I had someone else that I trusted take care of it for me.
As you know, I didn’t even worry about stage fright… until I was on stage!
Decline, defer, or delegate.
There are usually other projects that we have to do alongside our passion projects – we’ve made a commitment or we’re doing it to pay the bills! However, these can start to zap energy you have from your passion project by pulling you in a number of directions or being mind numbing. If I notice that a non-passion project starts to wear me down or I think that it will, I either say no to it if it hasn’t begun or figure out a way to change the painful process of it. If I don’t, I know the project will steal energy from my passion projects.
I had a mentee recently tell me that she got assigned to a lead project that she wasn’t interested in. She wanted to work on something else, plus have time for her passion projects at home. She mentioned someone else on her team was interested in the project, so I told her to make him the lead, completely removing the project from her plate, and tell her boss which project she did want.
At first, she was highly skeptical; concerned that her boss would think she was just getting out of work. That said, it’s really only getting out of work if you’re shirking your other responsibilities! Finding another leader who will do a better job is responsible. While proposing a project that you prefer and then following through on it, you are showing that you are committed and motivated, not trying to slide by.
My mentee ended up taking my advice, telling her boss the truth, and it all worked out. Turns out you CAN get what you ask for!
It’s not just about saying no to others: you also have to say no to yourself. When I considered training for another half marathon, I had to stop and remind myself that I needed those morning hours to write or rehearse my talk! If something else strikes your fancy but is competing for attention, put it on the back burner. Some people might call that procrastinating, but I call it prioritizing.
Finally, delegate whatever doesn’t require your utmost focus! For example, I didn’t want to deal with booking a hotel room. Fortunately, my handler took care of it. I also asked for an extra night, so I wouldn’t have to book an early flight out, and she was even kind enough to fulfill my request. The key to delegating is letting people know what you want and why you want it. They will figure out how to make it happen. If they don’t, find the other people who you can rely on.
Getting inspired.
I don’t know what inspiration looks like, so I never wait for it.
I just know that I have to deliver something every week. I also have a limited amount of time, usually 1-2 hours each morning to get something done. If I know how to produce it, then I do it. It might not be perfect, but I do it anyways. Better to have a rough draft that you can refine than the fear and panic caused by having nothing!
If I don’t know how to do something, I ask for help.
For example, I was pretty comfortable writing an outline for my talk, but I’m not the best visual designer. I know that my abilities are limited, so I reached out and asked my speech coach for recommendations, and that’s when he suggested reading Presentation Zen. Ugh, reading a book takes time! So I carved out some 🙂
What if you don’t have a passion project?
I get asked this all the time. You don’t need to have a passion project – you can have a goal, and that goal can have a deadline. You still have to set a realistic deadline, and fill in the gaps for what you need to do in order to hit that deadline. If you cannot hit the deadline, move it, reduce the scope of the goal, or delegate parts of it that don’t require your focus. For my upcoming book, I didn’t have time to look for a printer though I knew I needed one. Instead, I got someone to volunteer who was interested in helping me with the project, and she has been researching printers based on my requirements.
Do you have a passion project you’re working on currently? What’s your process for making progress on it?
