STOP Procrastinating Tip #1 – The Salami And Nibble Technique
April 13, 2010 by Debra Marrs
Filed under Blog, Organizing, Organizing Your Time, Writing Tips
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STOP Procrastinating Tip #1:
The Salami and Nibble Theory
Have you ever had a project that you kept putting off because it just seemed overwhelming? Were you put off because you didn’t know where to begin? Did you start with one thing, but that lead to something else? If so, you’re not alone.
Sometimes when you procrastinate, it’s because the project is just like a salami: huge, and long, and slimy. You know how it is when you buy a whole salami, how it has that white chalky stuff all over it? Who would want to eat THAT!?!? Of course, no one would when it looks so huge, so long, and so slimy with that white chalky stuff all over it.
So what do you do? You take it, and you slice it, and you eat it one bite at a time. When you chunk it down into smaller bite-sized pieces, the salami is so much more palatable, isn’t it?
Application for Writers: What are you putting off? What’s project is so huge and overwhelming, it has your writing stalled?
Take a look at what you’ve been putting off doing or writing. Chances are you’re procrastinating because you can only see the hugeness of the project and not the many steps that will lead you to accomplishing your goal. Use this technique to chunk the project down.
- Take out a sheet of paper.
- Make a list of tasks.
- Make each tasks things you can accomplish in under 30 minutes. The smaller the better. Go for tasks that are 5 to 10 minute to-do’s. These tasks might look like this:
- Dump draft first thoughts for Chapter 1 – go, no holds barred, no self-editing
- Start a Table of Contents
- Add 3 topic/titles to the Table of Contents tojumpstart this project
- Make a manilla folder for each topic or chapter (or a binder with sections works well too since this is all part of the ‘chunking it down theory’)
- Create a back history document for main character
You get the idea of it, right?
- Think of this chunked down list as your project menu. It is the container of your many chunks or slices.
- If the tasks need a certain order, then go ahead and number them in order. But don’t worry too much about that. Trust that you have a set of steps that will get you closer to your goal.
- Now, schedule at least 1 hour (2 hours is better if you’re a serious writer) every day to eat up that scrumptious project in those tinier bite-sized pieces.
One to two hours too much to ask? Well, then just do one thing at a time: eat as many pieces as your schedule (aka stomach) will hold to overcome procrastination.
Enjoy the journey!
{Please pass this writing tip along to others.}
Debra, Your methods are right on target. The bigger the project, the harder it is to begin because it seems so overwhelming. I might just try a task list. Who knows, maybe I will be able to pull all of my stories together by Christmas. Thanks.
Thanks, Donna. I would LOVE it if you could get another collection of your stories pulled together for Christmas. And your family members will love you even more for it too. Do it!
Debra
Thank you so much for this free E-Book! I love Natalie Goldberg. Your help and advice is very much appreciated.God Bless,Mary
Debra,
I really like the idea of making a list of the things I can get done in 30 minutes. There are times when I have small blocks of time like that – this technique will help me get many blog posts done if I just 1 or 2 extra 30 minute blocks for this. Thanks for pointing it out to me.
Terrie
Debra,
I really like the idea of making a list of the things I can get done in 30 minutes. There are times when I have small blocks of time like that – this technique will help me get many blog posts done if I just 1 or 2 extra 30 minute blocks for this. Thanks for pointing it out to me.
Terrie
Thanks, Donna. I would LOVE it if you could get another collection of your stories pulled together for Christmas. And your family members will love you even more for it too. Do it!
Debra
Debra, Your methods are right on target. The bigger the project, the harder it is to begin because it seems so overwhelming. I might just try a task list. Who knows, maybe I will be able to pull all of my stories together by Christmas. Thanks.
Debra,
I really like the idea of making a list of the things I can get done in 30 minutes. There are times when I have small blocks of time like that – this technique will help me get many blog posts done if I just 1 or 2 extra 30 minute blocks for this. Thanks for pointing it out to me.
Terrie
Debra,
I really like the idea of making a list of the things I can get done in 30 minutes. There are times when I have small blocks of time like that – this technique will help me get many blog posts done if I just 1 or 2 extra 30 minute blocks for this. Thanks for pointing it out to me.
Terrie
Debra,
I really like the idea of making a list of the things I can get done in 30 minutes. There are times when I have small blocks of time like that – this technique will help me get many blog posts done if I just 1 or 2 extra 30 minute blocks for this. Thanks for pointing it out to me.
Terrie
Thanks, Donna. I would LOVE it if you could get another collection of your stories pulled together for Christmas. And your family members will love you even more for it too. Do it!
Debra