It takes more force to get an object moving from a standing start than when it’s already got momentum.
Ever feel like this happens with projects too?
Over the last month I’ve been working on getting my YouTube channel started. And its taken a huge amount of time and effort to get the first three videos published.
But now that I’ve been working on it for a few weeks, I’ve got some momentum, it feels easier and I’m enjoying it.
It got me wondering why it’s so hard to start a project and what I can do better with my next one to get things moving along faster.
Activation Energy
Psychologists borrowed this term from chemistry where it refers to the smallest amount of energy needed to start a chemical reaction. After the reaction has started, it takes far less energy to keep it going.
The same thing happens in our brains.
Using data from fMRI scans, neuroscientists saw that we use our prefrontal cortex when doing complex thinking, but when doing easy tasks, we use more of the basal ganglia.1 So we can do it more automatically.
New projects need more ‘thinking’ and therefore, effort than things we can do on autopilot. Especially if you’re learning new skills.
How to overcome it
Make it as easy as possible for yourself to start. Choose one small task and do it. Get that quick win and generate some momentum.
Ambiguity and Uncertainty
When you start a new project, you’re trying to figure out what you want to do and how you’re going to do it. You’re making a lot of decisions often without much information to base them on.
This ambiguity takes a lot of cognitive energy to process.
I sometimes overthink and hesitate on taking action because I think it’ll be the wrong decision. Even though the decisions I’m making aren’t irreversible and I know that making any decision (even if it’s wrong) allows me to make progress and get clearer on what I do want.
How to overcome it
Accept that you can’t plan for everything and you don’t know what you don’t know. So take any action that moves you in the rough direction you want to go.
The Zeigarnik Effect
When you get going with a project, you’ll likely have a bunch of tasks partially finished. Odds and ends that you’ll go back to and five minute jobs that you’ll do when you get time.
When making my first videos for YouTube, they were all at different stages – scripting, editing, title, filming etc. And trying to hold in my head where they were all up to was taxing and confusing.
Turns out, I was experiencing the Zeigarnik Effect – we remember unfinished tasks better than completed ones.
Having a task partially completed creates an underlying cognitive tension. So every video I’d started created tension and when I finished a video it released it.
If you have a lot of open tasks like this when starting a project, you’re going to be using up mental energy by keeping them in your mind. You need to free that energy up.
How to overcome it
Write your tasks down somewhere with a status tracker. I’m using a Kanban board to track my video progress. Notion, a Google Sheet, anything will work.
Perfectionism
Ahh, our old friend perfectionism.
I knew that my first YouTube video wouldn’t be the best video I would ever make, but you only get one chance to make a first impression. And I’d heard that new YouTube channels get a bit of love from the algorithm so I wanted to make the most of the opportunity.
I didn’t mean that I delayed starting, but it did take longer to get my first video out there because I wanted to keep making the edit better.
How to overcome it
Embrace imperfectionism and ‘good enough’. You have to start to get better.
Key takeaways
Starting a new project takes more effort than one that you’re already working on.
Do one small thing to get you moving forward, even if you’re not 100% sure it’s the right thing. Write it down first and tick it off your list when you’re done.
You have to start to get better.
References
- Hollingworth, C., & Barker, L. (2017). How to use behavioural science to build new habits. ↩︎