Almost.. Almost... But Not Quite

After having endured months-long clouds of plaster dust and piles of plywood 2x4s, my kitchen's renovation is finally done... well, almost. The cupboard installation and countertop guys have long since packed up their white Ford Econo vans and driven off to their next apppointments, I've unpacked and thoroughly read all the manuals for my new, black-and-stainless steel space age technology stove and microwave, and have cooked six months worth of dinners. And, as long as you don't notice the unpainted ceiling, shredded wallpaper border and missing wall bricks, you would think my new kitchen is pretty great too.

I've fallen into the trap that's so easy to slide into after you've worked towards finishing any big project, whether it's your kitchen, marathon training, completing a Ph.D or looking for a new job --- I'm stuck in, for lack of a better description, Plateau Paralysis. This is the stage where you've endured maybe months or years of hard work as you move toward achieving a goal and right before it's completely done, you take a break -- because, heck, you deserve it, right?-- and then that break gets s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d into a few more days, and then those days become months and those months become years, and well, you get the picture.

And we may be perfectly justified to take a break, and in a lot of cases, that's just what our souls need. For me, I just felt sublimely happy that now in the morning, I could hang out in my p.j.'s without fear of bumping into a tool-belt wearing cupboard installation guy.

But the pitfalls of staying stuck in your comfy Plateau Paralysis resting spot can bring on a whopping big case of the blues later on when it gets harder and harder to extract yourself from that spot and get going again so you can cross that goal's finish line. 

I've learned from my own personal "almost.. but not quite" history, your body and mind for whatever diabolical reason, work overtime in tandem to keep you stuck like Krazy Glue on that resting spot. Your mind comes up with 1001 logical reasons why you should delay finishing that project, and the body supports these made-up reasons by either pointing you in the direction of your living room couch or giving you the flu.

And let's face it, it gets a bit depressing to our self-esteem to review the past years of our lives as a series of almosts-but-not-quites. So what to do?

1. Schedule the date when you will begin again.

Pick a date when you will start work again on your project. Write it down on your daily planner, circle it with a big fat red marker on your calendar, put it on a Post-it on your work computer. This is your do-or-die day.

2. Pick one action that you will do on that day.

It doesn't have to be a huge piece of work, it can be something quite small. For example, if not finishing that novel is your albratross right now, decide that on your "do-or-die" day, you will write one paragraph. And it doesn't have to be a perfectly-crafted, Hemingway-worthy- paragraph, just one stinkin' paragraph.

If your inner anxiety alarm goes into red-hot DANGER! mode upon even thinking about starting, here's another trick: Set a timer for 15 minutes or whatever is the minimum amount of time you decide you can stomach to work on your procrastinating project.  What will happen is that you may complete the desired action in that time space --  or you may just stare up at the ceiling tiles and dream about running away with Brad Pitt.  But when that timer goes off, unless you feel on a creative roll, stop working. Repeat this action the next day. Put together enough of these 15 minute spurts of work, and you will finish your project.   

3. If needed, get support and accountability that you will complete the action.

If you know that there's a high probablility of you wussing out on your sheduled plan of action, ask your coach or a good friend or family member to give you a call/e-mail to follow up on how you're doing on that day. Everyone needs support, so ask for it if you need it!

4. Don't stop now.

After you've completed your first small action step, the Diabolical Duo of body and mind will be whispering sweet nothings in your ear such as, "You've done really well! Time to take another break."

If this happens to you, time to bring out the emotional vision artillery. As logical as we humans profess to be, nine times out of 10, we make our decisions based purely on emotion. So paint yourself a picture of emotions that you can carry with you when you feel like throwing in the towel on your dreams. In my case, I have a really vivid picture of one of the walls of my kitchen being painted in a Provence-style  bright yellow. Right now, that wall is a dirty, depressing gray color. Thinking about how much I'm going to enjoy seeing a cheerful splash of yellow every day got me off my living room couch and into a Home Depot this past weekend to look at paint chips.

5. Oops... I Did It Again...

Break time again, eh? Well, you wouldn't be the first to cave in and come back to your comfort zone. Happens to us all. But make this a rest stop with a difference and quickly start again with number one: "Schedule a date when you will begin again." If you go through this a few times, I can guarantee that your almost-but-not-quites will become a thing of the past. 

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