06 Sep What to do when you’re ‘stuck in the middle’

I’ve felt like that so many times.
Not knowing where to go: left, right, forwards, or backwards.
So many options.
Not knowing what to choose, and therefore not knowing what to do.
And consequently, being busy. But not actually doing anything.

Last week I attended a virtual training by one of my mentors Dean Graziosi.
And he mentioned the ‘garage door’ tool: every project you are working on has a garage door.
Or every subtask within a project has a garage door.
And you only open one door at a time.
And work on that.

Shortly after this training I saw a very practical tip shared by someone in our Facebook group to use yellow sticky notes instead of imaginary garage doors.
Or, colored ones for different topics.
And then take one sticky note to your desk, and work on that.
On that only 😉

And then it hit me.
That is different than what I use(d) to do.
I’ve heard myself say ‘I feel like I’m stuck in the middle’ a thousand times.
If only I had listened to myself …
My language gave away where I was struggling, and how.
Yet, I did not see it, until last week.

It has to do with how I spatially represent the project I am working on.
In my mind, I arrange my work around me, and therefore I am in the middle.
And that is why I can feel torn between left and right, front and back.

Instead, with the garage doors/sticky notes, they all are in front of me.
It creates some distance.

WOW.
Such a small shift.
Such a big difference.

First, I can see them all.
Second, I have overview.

How does this work for you?
Does this help?
How could you use this next time when you start or work on one of your projects?

Much health,
Maaike

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