II. Just Do The Next Thing

Break down any non-trivial project into all of the individual component steps and actions that need to be completed in order to see that project through end to end.

The list is likely to be significant in length. Components might break down into subcomponents each with their own collection of subcomponents and so on. You might not even be able to know what some of those steps are until you get further along in the process. Dependencies and sequencing of some steps might not even be clear.

Your project planning can quickly become so overwhelming that you’re paralyzed, unsure how or where to even start.

In those cases, just do the next most obvious thing that is right in front of you. In a great many cases, it won’t matter where you start, only that you have started. The closest thing that you know that needs doing that you can cross off of your list is one less thing that the project demands of you to see its completion. Most often, it will begin the path, giving you more information that points you in the direction of the next step that needs to be taken.