To eat an elephant

I miss being young (and not for the reasons you think).

In my first year of university, I joined five clubs while working a part-time job and having a full slate of classes. My younger self had this near boundless energy to learn new things and take on new challenges.

Flash forward ten years, and a lot has changed.

I'm a bit heavier and overall slower at getting things done. When you combine this current state with my tendency to bite off more than I can chew, I've set myself up for a world of hurt. Yet, to make a living as a full-time author, that is what I must do.

A few weeks ago, I launched my reader magnet, Slice of Sin, to the general public. This feat took around two months from initial idea to final release.

Creating the story was easy. The hard part was everything else.

I had to work with an artist to get the cover just right, find a proofreader on Fiverr, learn how to format an eBook, create an author website, set up a mailing list, create a great welcome email sequence to introduce new readers to my community, etc.

I won't lie. It's been hard battling my inner perfectionist, and I have deprioritized other important things in my life to meet my deadline.

And now that I'm done, I have a hundred more things on my list of to-dos.

So what's keeping me going? How am I pushing forward in the face of my ever-growing to-do list?

One bite at a time:

If you read the subject line of this email, you already know half of the answer.

In the face of overwhelming work, the best thing you can do is break it into small bite-sized tasks. It turns a mountain into a series of easier-to-climb molehills.

Another thing that it does is build momentum. The more consistent I am in taking on my work, the easier it becomes. It develops habits that become a part of my muscle memory and get baked into my daily routine.

I may not be as full of energy as I used to be, but I am, hopefully, a little wiser.

Question:

How do you deal with your to-do list?

Reply and let me know!

Until next time,