The Bang for Your Buck

Are you overwhelmed? Do you say yes to too many things, have several projects going at once? Or do you have one project that needs attention, but you don’t know where to begin, or how?

If you have too many things to do, the next question is: What gives you the biggest bang for your buck? When you look at the list of things you’ve said yes to, if everything has the same priority and deadline, think about which project will give you the greatest return on your time and energy investment. And in this case, return can be financial or emotional. If you cannot get rid of anything on the list, order it in terms of biggest bang. You might also want to consider increasing your use of one little word: NO.

If starting the (or one of) project is the problem, ask yourself this: Does it really matter? Starting is the key. Think about the goal and all the factors that lead to the goal. Choose the one that’s most interesting or easiest – the one that gives you the biggest bang. Then build on that.

I recently wrote a book. The contents unfolded in a way that seemed to make sense to me. However, my editor ended up rearranging much of what I had written, and that was okay – that’s why I have an editor. For me, the bang was getting all the thoughts out. You can be your own editor once you get everything out of your head.

-Sydney Metrick