Identify the motivations behind each project, and sequence them strategically.

Photo by Barn Images on Unsplash

A few years into engineering school, I was working away at a big, audacious project to make a student satellite (the kind that gets launched into space). I’d spent evenings in the library trying to learn the math I needed to analyze the satellite’s motion. I also had a ton of studying to do to keep up with my classes.

But I was hitting a wall. I couldn’t get myself to focus on homework assignments when there were more interesting space-related problems on my mind.

At the peak of my burnout, the college short film contest rolled around. I did the only logical thing to do — I decided to take on another project. A group of classmates and I started writing a short film script. It was a sci-fi thriller.

Crazy though it sounds, spending some time outdoors, shooting action scenes in the woods, and exercising my creative muscle was just what I needed. I got busier in the short term.

Honestly, it wasn’t the best idea. I don’t recommend letting yourself get as overscheduled as I typically did in college. And I’m not about to show anyone that movie.

But ultimately, my burnout started to ease as I balanced the heavily analytical schoolwork with freewheeling creativity. I eventually did manage to figure out how to analyze the satellite’s motion and get through college.

I’ve given a lot of thought to how best I can choose my creative projects since then. This is what I’ve found.

List all the ideas

When you’re trying to decide between many ideas, list them all in one place. If you’ve jotted them down on bits of paper, in a dedicated notebook or on your phone, find all of the notes and list the ideas on a big new page, or in a spreadsheet.

Before I do this, I don’t know how many ideas there are, and I feel as though there must be thousands. When I see them all written down on a single page, I’m relieved to see that they were as few as fifteen or so all along.

Assume you can get to all of them eventually

When choosing ideas, I think of the process as one of deciding which projects to do first. This framing takes the pressure off the decision. No idea is being axed permanently.

I used to worry that if I didn’t do a project immediately, I’d forget about it and never get to it. However, I have a reasonably robust system of capturing ideas. Even if they aren’t top-of-mind, ideas that are important don’t ever fade away; they tend to resurface when the time is right.

It makes sense to defer a project until after you’ve done the intermediate steps that prepare you for it.

I’m getting used to the idea that there will always be deferred projects on my wishlist, and not having started them isn’t anything to be angsty about. It’s a normal state of things and not a sign of failure.

Identify the rewards you’re seeking

For each project, list what ‘reward’ you are hoping to gain from it.

For example, with my student satellite, I wanted to push myself to learn math skills, get some practical engineering experience, and earn “bragging rights” for my accomplishment.

With the short film, I had a clear image in my head of the action scenes in the second act. I wanted to make the image real. And I wanted to get outdoors, learn to write a script, and win the annual short film contest, also to get bragging rights. (I was a competitive kid.)

‘Rewards’ that you might want to gain from your projects are:

1. Specific skills, as from creative and practical projects like programming, woodworking, making comics, painting, writing fiction, public speaking that are learned best by doing.
2. Academic knowledge, as from reading projects like learning math or physics from textbooks and solution manuals.
3. Credentials, as from taking an online course or certification, college classes.
4. A public platform or fame, as from starting a YouTube channel or blog.
5. Fun, or relaxation, as from joining a frisbee meetup, hiking, painting, or journaling.
6. Sharing an important message, by writing a blog series or op-eds about a subject you’re passionate about.
7. A lifestyle improvement, such as cooking more, starting an exercise plan, or tracking your sleep.
8. Income, if the project is a product or service you want to sell.

There might be multiple reasons for each project. While writing them down, don’t be afraid to be candid, even if the reasons seem shallow or silly. They’re valid reasons all the same.

Strategize areas of your life

It helps to the projects and the things I might gain from them into a table. You can use a spreadsheet or draw a table in a notebook. Here’s my spreadsheet if you want to make a copy.

Then I think about which reward I need most, or first. It depends on my current state, and whether I have momentum.

If I’m particularly burned out, I may need ‘relaxing activities’ and ‘physical exercise’ before it makes sense to try to build ‘writing skills’ and ‘drawing skills’.

If I’m on a roll and have momentum with my creative work, it’s a good time to choose a project to amplify it by building a ‘platform for sharing my work’ or trying to generate income.

Choose a goal or set of complementary goals from the list of rewards from each project, based on either what you feel you need most, or what feels exciting and within reach.

Will achieving this goal make the other projects more attainable, by building a skill or asset you’ll need? That’s when you know you’ve got a winner.

Replace the projects that are half-measures

Look at all the projects that give you the reward you’ve chosen. Does one of them check the most boxes? Or does it give you the most important reward, for this moment in time, that will enable you to tackle the others better in the future?

Then choose it!

Before you do, though, check that the project is as direct and real as it can be. It’s tempting to choose a half-measure project to dip your toe in, like ‘reading up’ on how to make something or ‘practicing’ an art technique. Think of ways to make the real thing you want to make, instead of preparing endlessly. It will be more satisfying and keep you from getting stuck in a rut where you don’t know if you’re making any progress.

Don’t worry about the projects not done

I worry less about the projects I don’t choose to start if I write them down in detail and wait for when the time is right for me to do them.

Now, I’ll contradict my earlier suggestion to assume that you’ll get to all your projects eventually. You might, or you might not. You might change your mind about some of them, or replace them with better ideas.

This is fine with me. If I do two or three projects that I’m proud of in a year, that’s a great year. It doesn’t matter how many more ideas I had and didn’t execute. There are no awards for getting to the bottom of your project wish-list.

The ideas that are most important to you tend to keep reappearing and don’t let you go until the time is right for you to make them a priority.