Finishing what you started...

When you start a project try to set up a schedule and bare the following in mind:

1. Make it Definite:

• Allocate as much time as your diary allows – yes, your hobby project is important to you, so yes diarise it in amongst the rest of your daily/evening/weekend planning

2. Make it Challenging:

• Keep up the enthusiasm – if it is too simple you may lose interest!  Enthusiasm is needed throughout your project – enjoy what you are doing.

3. Make it Reasonable:

• Your schedule must not be too tormenting, if it is impossible you will be discouraged and lose interest.

4. Make it Goal Orientated:

Find all the "half done" projects & asses what still needs to be done then:

• Set yourself goals – look at the project as a whole & set a time limit to complete certain parts/sections of the project.
• What would you like to get done by when?
• Try to give yourself a deadline to complete each project /part of a project
• Don’t have a deadline in the too distant future- there is a difference in saying I will do one section per week or saying four sections per month, you may miss a week or two and end up being behind schedule
• Smaller time increments keep closer tabs on your dedication.
• Your time allocated must be productive.
• Measure your progress for setting future goals – you may be a bit too optimistic at   
  first & by monitoring how much you get done in a certain time allows for future   
  planning & adjusting your goals time limits. Also by measuring your progress you will see that you are achieving something & are getting closer to accomplishing what you set out to do.  Don’t get overwhelmed by what still has to be done, just keep ticking off each step of the way as you go.
• Focus on one part of your project at a time
• As you complete each stage and reach each goal you will get a feeling of accomplishment & this will help to keep you motivated to reach the ultimate goal of
  completing your project.
• Keep your end result in mind & that feeling of satisfaction you will get once you
  have finished the project.
• Be flexible , you may not have to stick to sequential tasks – if you can mix it up it
  gives you the chance to choose what part of the project you feel in the mood to do
• If you have more than one project going on at a time, allocate time to each one & this will also help you have variety and not feel you are tied down to completing one particular task & they will all get done – you may even surprise yourself when they all start coming to an end & you can look for those exciting new projects to start.
• Don’t let the feeling that you can’t do it perfectly stop you from trying.

Enjoy every minute or why do it…