Project Inertia

The beginning of a project or piece of work has always been one of the hardest times, I’ve found. The actual act of going from nothing to something is deceptively difficult and it doesn’t seem to matter if the project in question is an essay for university, a program to write, a DIY project or some art/craft piece. I always seem to hit a point early on where I’ve researched the topic, gathered the initial materials and am effectively ready to start but I don’t.

I remember noticing this at university when I always wanted to start work on a project early, however I found I would only actually start work once the time pressure of a deadline became large enough to spur me into action.

I think there are several reasons why actually starting work on something is hard:

• Degradation: Prior to starting work on something, the gathered materials are organised and pristine, it can be hard then to actually start working with these materials, especially if you are a beginner or novice in this type of project as you are aware that there is a high likelihood that the finished product will not be to the same quality as the materials that went into it e.g. it is possible to draw a stick man with the finest oil paints on a high quality canvas.
• Commitment: Starting work on something can be seen as a semi public statement that you are about to attempt to actually do something instead of just talking about doing it e.g. once you’ve got paint on the canvas your going to be asked what/how/who you’re painting.
• Measurment: Actually working on something opens up you and your work to potential observation and criticism by peers which can be intimidating e.g. how well you can actually perform can now actually be measured based on the evidence from your project instead of just how well you claim to be able to do it.

In fact, the reasoning behind the content of my first post on this blog was an attempt to start this blog with both a high quality and relevant post on project inertia, as I have been meaning to start writing for over three months now but had not gotten started. However as Newton observed once something is going it is easier for it to continue rather than stop (and vice versa).

I just hope I can build and maintain sufficient momentum to keep this going.