One Project at a Time: The Secret to Doing More with Less Stress
Have you ever noticed how starting something new feels amazing for about three days… and then your brain starts screaming that it’s a bad idea?
You tell yourself you’re too busy, or that it doesn’t matter, or that you should switch to something “more important.” So you start something else. And guess what? The same thing happens again.
This week I started staining my deck, but as soon as I got outside and began the work, I noticed all the other projects that seemed way more urgent - fall garden cleanup, the clothesline was broken, and weeds around the air conditioner definitely needed to be pulled right that instant! NOT.
The only reason I got the deck completed was because I decided to stick to it and not be distracted by anything. Did distractions come up? You bet your bottom dollar. But I didn’t let them de-rail me.
None of this is because we’re lazy or flaky. You may have been called these names by a hyper-organized relative, especially if you have an ADHD suspicion or consider yourself neurodivergent. You probably beat yourself up when you don’t get tasks completed in a timely manner. BUT - good news - you can stop being mean to yourself.
Our brains are wired to seek pleasure and avoid discomfort — and finishing things takes energy, focus, and delayed gratification. Staining a deck with cats running outside every 10 minutes was not comfortable!
Here’s the deal:
You don’t need to be more motivated.
You need constraint.
Constraint means choosing one main project at a time and refusing to chase everything else until it’s done.
This is hard at first. You’ll feel resistance. You’ll think you picked the wrong project. You’ll want to quit. But if you stick with it, you’ll start collecting dopamine hits of completion — and those wins build momentum faster than any “motivation hack” ever could.
🧠 The Secret to Finishing What You Start
When you choose one thing, your brain freaks out. It doesn’t like that you’re committing to something that might fail — or worse, something that requires effort.
That’s why you have to plan on hating it.
You’ll feel resistance, self-doubt, boredom, distraction — all of it. But when you expect that, it doesn’t surprise you anymore. You just keep going.
That’s how you train your brain to do hard things, to focus, and to actually create results.
🕰 Time Is in Your Mind
We say things like “I don’t have time,” but time isn’t something that happens to us. It’s something we decide to use.
If you tell yourself something will take an hour — and you stick to it — it will take an hour. If sticking to one thing at a time is a challenge for you, read my post about moving away from multi-tasking.
If you tell yourself you can’t start until everything’s perfect, you’ll never start at all.
You don’t need to be perfect. You need B-minus work — good enough to get it out into the world and learn from it. That’s how progress happens.
💡 Here’s Your Challenge
Pick one project that matters to you — personal, home, or business.
Write it on paper. Commit to finishing it.
Plan on feeling resistance the whole time.
Follow through anyway.
And then — celebrate. You’ll have proof that you can manage your time, your brain, and your results.
One finished thing will do more for your confidence than ten half-done ones ever will. :)
