Put big dreams first

How to make time for that speculative project

Many people have some big project on their bucket lists. Maybe it’s writing a book, or that white paper that will establish you as a thought leader. Maybe it’s writing a grant for a big research project that’s a little different from your usual fare.

These things never have to happen. Indeed, you could go through your life not doing them. And so, consequently, since there are no deadlines, and no one waiting on you to do these things, they are easy to put off. That’s doubly true since they can be challenging and uncertain. You could do all that work and then have them not pan out!

Choosing a bad time

Of course, even if we’re busy, we do want to give a nod to our ambitions. So what usually happens is that people put these big, speculative projects on their to-do lists, but then don’t give them a time, or give them a bad time. Like, 4 p.m. on Friday.

Let me tell you, scheduling something you do not have to do for the end of the day on Friday means you won’t do it. Either you’ll be tired or the things you do need to do before the weekend won’t be done yet and you’ll still be cranking away on those. And so, week after week, you’ll shove it forward, borrowing time from the next week, which will no doubt have crises of its own.

So here’s another idea. Put these big dreams on your schedule first. Carve out a big chunk of time Monday morning to tackle your speculative project.

Here’s why. You’ll be freshest. The emergencies have yet to arise. And so you’re more likely to actually do it. And when you carve out time for things, you make progress — and that progress itself is often motivational enough to nudge you to find more time.

Less disruptive than you think

Now of course, I know, you have a job and responsibilities. But if you work on something speculative from, say, 7:30-9:30 a.m. on Monday, I’m guessing your normal job responsibilities will still be waiting for you at 9:30. And because you are a responsible person, you will do them. But in this world you will have also done the thing you didn’t have to do alongside your job, rather than just doing your job. Same goes with carving out time every day from, say, 8-9 a.m., or if it needs to be earlier than normal work hours, 6-7 a.m. Get up early one day a week — let’s say Mondays from 5:30-7:30 a.m. — and you’ll be putting two more solid hours into your project than you were before.

Bit by bit you will move it forward. And with any luck, that forward motion will turn your big project into something slightly less speculative. A major foundation likes your initial pitch and asks for a full proposal. An agent asks to see more pages in that book. That industry website likes your think piece and wants more from you — great! Accountability. Now you’ll find time for this stuff during normal hours because you’ve got that nudge.

But until that happens, you need to make the accountability yourself. And the best way to have that happen is to schedule it first.