You’ve probably heard that joke “How do you eat an elephant” and thought that it was kinda clever. Well, there is a good piece of wisdom to the punch line: “One bite at a time”. Big tasks get MUCH easier when you break them down. And, yes, ‘big’ can be relative to whatever you’re doing, but the statement still stands. Breaking up your task into manageable quick-wins helps you keep that momentum and feel/see progress!

In Short; Getting Sh*t Done!

Eating the Elephant boils down to “Getting Big Sh*t Done”. We all have things that we need to do for our freelancing business and they all range in size and complexity. Most people just have a giant check list of things that they need to do and try to get that box checked. Without realizing the effort that is needed to get that box checked, we can sometimes focus on one task…and one task only.

This approach leaves everything else by the wayside, slows down your progress of getting things done, and doesn’t help you prioritize what you actually need to be focusing on. Are you getting caught up on the HOW and not the WHAT of your business?

Need help getting past that Analysis Paralysis we often have when figuring out our business? Get past the HOW and focus on the WHAT! Check out FHS 21: Figuring Out the WHAT

Your To-Do list may also be a place where ideas go to die. Throwing things on your To-Do list that doesn’t need to be there is pretty common.

Don’t use your To-Do list as a dumping ground for tasks or ideas.

You’ll easily get overwhelmed and discouraged from actually getting sh*t done. But how do we actually get sh*t done? Well…you need to learn how to chew that elephant!

How to Chew

This is where that “one bite at a time” answer comes into play. Any task that you need to do can be done. You just have to attack it with a strategy.

Taking a look at what you ACTUALLY do every day, you’ll realize that you’re only getting on average 3 things done per day. I challenge you to focus on widdling down your to-do list to only 3 things. Try it for a single day and you’ll see that you’re much more hyper focused and effective!

• Break it apart – Take you big task and separate it into small sub-tasks that have actions you can do.
• Set time limits for your work – Don’t think you have to do everything TODAY! Pace yourself and set limits on how long you’ll work on the task each day until its done. Work in 25-minute shifts and take a break after.
• Take breaks – You are not a machine. Take frequent 5-minute breaks after your 25-minute cycle so you wont burn out.
• Focus! – Don’t distract yourself by doing all of the sub-tasks at once. Focus on one task during that 25-minute cycle and one task only! Focus on that elephant!

Choose 3 tasks to do today that you can do within 8 hours. You’ll be hyper focused and proud of your progress.

When you break down your goals into smaller manageable and bite size pieces, you’ll see the fruits of your labor much more quickly than trying to take it all at once. Set a time-box (about 25 minutes) for how long you’ll work on that one piece and keep at it until you’ve made significant progress.

You’ll look back and have that sense of accomplishment and fulfillment pushing you further!

Marathon vs Sprint

Your elephant can be broken down into smaller chunks. Don’t rush through things just to get it done. Take your time by focusing on once piece at a time that will eventually finish the overall goals. You’re going to need some sort of Time Management system in place to keep you on track. One method that I use the Pomodoro method by Francesco Cirillo.

The Pomodoro Method is a simple and effective way to manage your time to help you focus on the tasks at hand

Basic Pomodoro Cycle

1. Choose a task from your list
2. Set a time for 25 minutes
3. Work on task until the timer goes off
4. When timer goes off, put a check mark on your piece of paper
5. Take a 5 minute break
6. Every 4 pomodoros, take a longer break (about 20 minutes)
7. Repeat

While going through the cycle, you’ll get a better idea on how to break that elephant into smaller and more realistic and manageable tasks. You’ll get better at taking off 25-minute chunks of your task.

It doesn’t matter how large of a elephant you have. You’ll still be able to break it apart into manageable tasks. You may even have to break THAT task even one more time. The point is to keep going until you’re able break the task apart into smaller and smaller pieces. Don’t think you have to finish large nearly-impossible tasks in one sitting.

Pace yourself when eating the elephant and you’ll make it through.

Eating the Elephant

Dont think you have to take on that mountain of a goal. Breaking things up into smaller and more manageable chunks are going to put you on that path of completion. Eating the elephant is a process that combines time management, task management, and focus.

Take a task that you need to accomplish that will go towards your elephant. Work on in for 25 minutes. Take a break, and repeat. You’d be surprised to see how much progress you’ll get done with a simple 25-minute focused session.

One tool that I use to keep track of my tasks is Trello (www.trello.com) and its 100% free. Its an online and virtual whiteboard where you can organize and share your thoughts or tasks. I’ve created myself a “To-Do” board where I have a ‘Need To’, ‘Doing’, and ‘Done’ board with dates and check boxes. It keeps my thoughts and to-do’s organized and related to each other.

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