The Quail's Nest

October 02, 2023

Project #5: Didn't Happen

There’s no project this month. I really wanted to have something to show you all, but it just didn’t work. This is what happened:

The Plan

The goal for this month was to get The Crypt up and running.

I knew going in that I would be short on time, and the little time I had would be pretty segmented. The Crypt seemed like a good fit. Instead of building something new, I could focus on the smaller tasks of getting some old projects up and running. I could do as many as there was time for, and each could be done in whatever pocket of time was available.

The Hurdle

Unfortunately, I fell back into old patterns: procrastination, no motivation, and a black hole of distraction. Here’s why:

No concrete goal

“Get some projects up in the crypt” was not tangible enough, making it too easy to procrastinate, to rationalize not working. “It’s okay if I don’t do it now. I’ll get a project or two up later.” But giving in to that impulse unravels the routines and habits that have been getting the work done in the past few months.

A concrete, somewhat larger goal would have helped here. Maybe instead of “some projects”, the goal should have been “have 5 projects up and running in The Crypt”. That would make it a lot easier to challenge the “I’ll have time later” thought pattern.

The project concept itself

I have spent the past four months moving forward, building new things. Stopping all that momentum to look backwards at previous projects really affected my motivation. I still want to get some of those old projects up and running in The Crypt, but dedicating a whole month to it was a bad idea.

Missing support system

In past months, I relied on external help to course correct when things started to go off. A major piece of that support was missing this month, and as I let small issues go unchecked, more and more dropped out of place until it all snowballed into a complete mess.

Small, disconnected projects

The nature of small, disconnected projects was also an issue. Each element felt less significant than a larger project, and tasks felt less urgent. Too easy to procrastinate.

The Takeaway

Changing behavior patterns is hard, and regression is a fundumental part of that process. Until now, I’ve managed to keep regressions small, getting back into good patterns quickly enough to get projects done. But all the issues really made this month harder, and old patterns were too alluring to resist.

The best way I’ve found to deal with these sorts of setbacks is to keep moving forward. Figure out what went wrong, and find ways to mitigate the issues. Willpower is almost never the answer. Set up habits, routines, systems, and your environment to support the patterns you want.

Moving Forward

I’ll be back next month with a new project and a new post. This month didn’t work, but I am going to do better.

I still want to get my old projects into The Crypt, but dedicating a whole month to it was a mistake. I’ll need to find another way.

I’m also going to try increasing my posts to twice a month. When I first started each post took a full week or more to write. The writing process is more comfortable now, and posts only take a couple of days. This seems like the right time to push myself. We’ll still have the monthly project post, and I’ll be adding a second post halfway through. Not sure what the new ones will be about yet, so I guess it will be a surprise for all of us.

Until next time!