I was listening to the Accidental Creative podcast by Todd Henry where he was talking about the hardest part of any project as the middle. The hardest part is the valley between getting started and the thrill of completion. I agree that the middle of a long project can be difficult, and there are things you can do to make it easier.

In Henry’s analogy the project starts and ends on high ground, and the middle of the project is a low valley that is dark and sometimes scary. He talks about three main sources of roadblocks to the creative process: fear, negative narratives and inertia/self-comfort. Although he talks about all three, he doesn’t provide any tactics for getting through the valley in the podcast.

Henry’s analogy reminds me of the cycle of renewal I learned about from The Hudson Institute of Coaching, where we can move between “Going For It” and “The Doldrums” in the different professional chapters of our life. In the cycle, there are high-energy phases of any chapter in your professional life including “Getting Ready” and “Going For It”. If you find yourself in the doldrums on a project or in your career, I have some tactics that will help you break free.

Make a Change. It may sound straightforward, and it is amazing that it works. Sometimes all you need to break out of your funk is a change that is within your control. For example, a change of scenery or a change of tactics.

I run about twenty days a month, and I have a goal that I try and achieve every month. That goal doesn’t keep me from having mornings that I just don’t want to get up and run. I will occasionally get new shoes, new shorts, a new heart rate monitor or a new hat. Something that helps me be excited about the getting up and hitting the pavement the next morning.

If you’re writing, change how you write from using a computer to writing long-hand. If you’re creating a presentation, try using a whiteboard. If you struggle with motivation at work, try working from home one day. Or try working from a local coffee shop. Sometimes when you are in the doldrums in your career, it may take an even bigger change like changing your locale or your company.

Engage supporters. We can get stuck in our own heads as we work for a long time on any particular project. It is natural to tell ourselves stories, sometimes negative stories, that can drain away our motivation. We can overcome some of these self-defeating stories by engaging our friends and supporters throughout the work.

I have been working on a long-term writing project that has taken months and still isn’t completed. I have engaged friends and colleagues that know me and shared with them my vision and my struggles. In return, I get supportive words and encouragement - even offers to help by reviewing my work and ideas to include.

Consider the folks in your network and who you might engage to share your goals and struggles. You don’t need to ask for help, although there is no reason not to ask. Allow your network to support you, and they will tell you the positive stories of your capability to counteract the negative narratives you may be telling yourself.

March on. One of the best ways to stay motivated is to keep making progress. Continue to put one foot in front of another and march on. I have great affinity for the Jim Collins' tactic 20-mile march. This tactic says to make progress in regular measure every day. A brief search tells me I’ve mentioned it in four previous blog posts including here and here. The upshot is to keep making progress a little at a time.

One of my favorite posts by Derek Sivers is how to get out of a bad place. He has some good advice, and number five really resonated with me. "Do all the daily mundane things, it helps you feel on top of things.” Having small steps you can take every day allows yourself to go to bed with accomplishments.

In my own extended writing project, I have found success by setting goals small goals along the way. I know I must write and revise each section of my project, so I set a goal to write or review one section each day. When I can march on through each section, it helps me make progress on the much larger project that will take months to complete.

Remind yourself of your vision. We all need reminders of what is at stake when we are in the middle of the details of a project. It is natural to let the details obscure the final outcome. For big projects, the detailed steps can be far removed from the end goal. Find something to remind you of what is important about what you are doing.

I have used a simple post-it note with three priorities to remind me of what is important. I have taken a poster-board to draw out a more complicated vision for what I wanted to accomplish over the next six months and posted it above my desk. There are lots of ways to remind yourself of why you do what you do; find something for you and make it visible so you cannot avoid the reminder.

At the team level, I have used the idea of a “campaign” to help the team recognize the vision for what we aspire to achieve. For example, a campaign to eliminate all bugs prior to shipping the product. I’ve created highly visible metrics and a continually reinforced goal. The team can rally around the vision and watch the progress towards achieving that vision.

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