Too many project ideas?

Prioritizing where to start

All my fellow projects people, raise your hands 🙋‍♂️ There’s an excitement in feeling the spur of a creative idea. The rush of a concept that feels energizing, fun and intellectually stimulating. But when you get past that initial buzz, how do you actually create and see your ideas through?

It all starts with prioritization and deciding if the project is actually worth the time and effort. As someone who freelances full-time, I often get excited by a new project idea or learning opportunity, then easily distracted by my paid work, which I prioritize above everything else, then feel too spent to work on my projects.

For advice, I turned to the most “projects people” I know: the Groove community. These are folks creating wavy career paths — freelancers, solopreneurs, creatives — who are always learning and embarking on new, challenging endeavors. Plus, I like a healthy dose of advice from thought leaders once in a while.

“Be the weirdo who dares to enjoy.”

- Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Pause and take time to reflect

It can be tempting to use the momentum to jump right in, but taking a breather to see if the idea sticks with you and feels as vital after a few days can make all the difference.

I’m an avid journaler and have found that reflection helps me tremendously in dialing in on my interests. Prioritizing is a muscle I needed to develop over time — and continue to exercise daily. I’m also mindful of what brings me joy, feels light, and/or opens my heart.

- Ariana Friedlander, Groover

I ponder my curiosity, do some research, data dump my findings with a curious friend, then see if/how/when it fits into my life or my vision.

- JoAnna Datz, Groover

Get realistic on time commitment

The really hard part for me comes when I have to figure out how much time I can realistically dedicate to the project on a daily basis, which is what usually defines for me if it will work out or not. If it’s an hour a day, or a few in a week, it’s probably going to be something I can make progress on.

- Tova Safra, Groove Co-Founder

Ask yourself what you’re saying no to doing by taking on the project — and be ok with it.

In Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, author Oliver Burkemann argues that by accepting we have limited time on earth, it frees us to better focus on the projects that matter. We will never be able to fit in everything we want to do, so understanding what’s at the bottom of your list — and being ok with it — is key to satisfaction with how you are spending your time.

While not a fun question, ask yourself, “By saying yes to this, what am I saying no to?” and see if the tradeoff feels worth it.

Because in reality your time is finite, doing anything requires sacrifice — the sacrifice of all the other things you could have been doing with that stretch of time.

- Oliver Burkemann

Limit the number of concurrent projects

I can’t do a lot of creative projects at once, so I choose one at a time.

- Tova Safra

If we take on too much at once, we may get stuck and not actually see any of our projects through. We start pulling ourselves in too many directions. Oliver Burkemann recommends understanding your limit, and using a “one-in, one-out” system where you can only start something new when you finish something else.

Limit your work in progress. Perhaps the most appealing way to resist the truth about your finite time is to initiate a large number of projects at once; that way, you get to feel as though you’re keeping plenty of irons in the fire and making progress on all fronts. Instead, what usually ends up happening is that you make progress on no fronts — because each time a project starts to feel difficult, or frightening, or boring, you can bounce off to a different one instead. You get to preserve your sense of being in control of things, but at the cost of never finishing anything important.

- Oliver Burkemann

Link goals to a feeling to make sure you know the why behind it

Writer Mari Andrew noted, “I accomplish the goals based on feeling; I abandon the goals based on thinking.”

She recommends using a more intuitive, intrinsic motivation while goal setting. What is the real why behind you wanting to work on this project?

Recently I decided to take a basics of Figma course on Udemy, and when I pinpointed the why — that I want to feel more comfortable and capable when working with designers who send me Figma files — it was so much more motivating for completing the course, than if I had used a reason like “widen my skill set.”

Don’t fixate on if the project is good enough

There are 8 billion people in this world, odds are, someone else has come up with a similar idea. Don’t let that stop you from exploring an interest or passion.

The older I get, the less impressed I become with originality. These days, I’m far more moved by authenticity. Attempts at originality can often feel forced and precious, but authenticity has quiet resonance that never fails to stir me.

― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

As long as the project is authentic to you, and you’re not misrepresenting it as the first of its kind, it’s fine to take inspiration and be iterating on what’s come before!

Do a trial period before fully committing

I don’t know if some creative projects are worthwhile until I’ve started it. I usually put a limit on it to see if I like doing it, i.e. “I’ll dedicate X amount of time a week for 6 weeks to this project, and then reassess how I feel about continuing it.

- Tova Safra

Set a fixed time commitment

Similar to Tova’s tip, Mari Andrew recently wrote about setting a 100 day timeframe for her projects.

Not all work or habits are sustainable forever, nor do we need them to be. If you’re creating a podcast, try committing to a series of 10 episodes rather than weekly episodes without an end date. Then you can always accomplish your initial goal and reassess if you’d like to continue, rather than feel like you’re quitting something.

But if you do want to quit, that’s ok too

Sometimes it’s not the right time for a project, and that’s fine. Life isn’t a straight timeline, and you never know what you might have learned that you’ll use elsewhere, or even pick it back up later.

I show myself compassion for when things don’t work out as I hoped. I’m currently 9 months “late” on finishing a project I started last year… sometimes I put things down but that doesn’t mean I can’t pick them back up later.

- Ariana Friedlander

While it might be disappointing to sometimes have to put projects down, I generally learn a great deal from the process, and when the inspiration strikes or a new resource becomes available, I’m grateful for all the work I did upfront to get it where it is, so that I can continue to run with it or make it even better than had if I had never put it down.

- JoAnna Datz

When you are ready to work on your project, consider a 50 minute focus session with Groove, an energizing online coworking community where you can get sh*t done and have a good time while you’re at it. What you do in a Groove is up to you — write a book, finish a presentation, design a birthday card, or take your daily neighborhood walk.

If you liked this article, check these out:

1. The Future of Work (as we see it)
2. Why We Don’t Like Vanity Metrics at Groove
3. Or, if you’re on a solopreneur looking for more support, accountability and focus join Groove’s online coworking community to get sh*t done and have a good time while you’re at it ➡️ groove.ooo