Birds and time

Recently all my work has involved using the computer, and now all I want to do is ANYTHING BUT USE THE COMPUTER.  It's been rainy for much of the end of August and is continuing into September, so that means I'm not going outside and I'm trapped with my work indoors.  Of course I don't HAVE to do it, but the more I postpone it the more it piles up.

I heard this story once about an elementary school student who had this big research project due.  The child had to research a bunch of different types of birds and compile them into a small report.  The student kept putting off the work because of how daunting it seemed.  Finally it got to be the night before the project was due and the student realized that he had not so much as opened a book.  It seemed impossible.  He broke down and told his family he couldn't manage it in such little time.  The family members took him close and calmed him down.  "It's OK.  Let's just start with one bird.  Surely we can do that.  And when we have, we'll be one bird closer to done."  They kept at the project this way for the whole night, thinking only of one bird at a time.  Before they knew it, they were done!

The problem people tend to have, myself definitely included, is that we can only see the WHOLE picture, one big overbearing project.  It seems too big to accomplish, and we get overwhelmed and give up before we've even begun.  If we simply break a project down into pieces and focus on the smaller sub-sections, it makes accomplishing things much more manageable.

The book that I read this story from is called Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.  As it's been a long time since I've read the book I think that my recollection of the story above may be a little different, but it has the basic ideas intact.

I will do my best to take this advice.  Bird by bird.