Comments on: How to get unstuck in life

By: Jordan Carver

Jordan Carver — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:00:46 +0000

I'm at my very best when I am checking things off a list and getting them accomplished one by one. I think this idea is very powerful and sort of overlooked. Rewriting the list daily helps you evaluate progress, but it also makes you look at "to-do's" and their priority with a renewed perspective. Anyway, great advice.

By: Stress Free Productivity « RMC new site

Stress Free Productivity « RMC new site — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:09:27 +0000

[...] read “How to get unstuck in life” a few weeks ago. Penelope’s system sounds reasonable. Who would not want an empty in box? [...]

By: Barbie

Barbie — Mon, 02 May 2011 03:48:29 +0000

I know exactly what you mean. I work for a telco and am at a higher position where i have to overlook many groups and get tens of hundreds of emails which I need to scan and keep myself aware of whats going on.

Flagging emails according to priority has helped me immensely with getting my job done.

Good post!

By: ABCs of To-Dos | Hitha On The Go

ABCs of To-Dos | Hitha On The Go — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:38:33 +0000

[...] was fortuitous that I caught up with Penelope Trunk's blog and read this post. And then read this post that it referred to. And finally learned the crucial ABC's of [...]

By: Mel from Healing That Feeling

Mel from Healing That Feeling — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:41:40 +0000

Interesting read, thank you.

I find that my clients get 'stuck' because they are at least one of the following;

Overwhelmed with too much to do (for example if they have a goal of starting a business there is a lot to do and because they are not sure where to start, they don't 'start' at all).

Fearful of moving forward (fear of failure is often the reason)

Focused on the past (usually because of a trauma or hurt)

Not sure which way to go (this is common for women that I work with who are considering a lifestyle change and they are not sure which path to go down, so they stay 'stuck' at the crossroads)

My advice is to focus on the feeling of being 'stuck' and dig deeper to find out why, then work though some basic steps of getting you to move forward.

If you have a goal, write down the goal in HUGE detail. Asking yourself some basic coaching questions is another part of this process… Why do you want the goal? What would achieving the goal mean to you and your life? etc
Write down all of your answers.

When you think you are getting to the core goal and the blocks that are stopping you from achieving it, a mind map can be helpful to help you to focus on the things that you need to do or blocks that you need to overcome to achieve the goal.

By: mick stop

mick stop — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:59:31 +0000

It is interesting that you coach "stuck" people to make up a goal to help them to start moving forward until a better goal is realized, but that you yourself are afraid to committ a fake goal. Have you ever tried to give advice to "yourself"? If "you" came to you with this issue, what would you say to "yourself"?

By: Designer

Designer — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 12:29:38 +0000

This is really excellent stuff. Pitty TL;DR.

From what I did read I think using SCRUM might work well for you. We use this in our design firm every morning. 15 Minutes to stand up, talk about what you did and didn't do yesterday, and then about what you'll be doing today. It's great for motivation.

Like anything it's only as good as the effort you put into it, and it's not going to do the work for you, but we find it works wonders for productivity.

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 07:43:45 +0000

Great advice. My husband does it in his head (he wakes up in the morning and plans his entire day). I admire him for it, but I can't do it… it is not tangible enough. However, making one prioritised to do list over the morning coffee and start every day like that, that will work I think.

By: something lemon - And Happiness Was in Its Fruity Notes

something lemon - And Happiness Was in Its Fruity Notes — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:27:30 +0000

[...] though you should and when you seriously start contemplating polyphasic sleeping because you have problems with goal setting and then set a goal to un-commit from some of the things you have signed up for because even with [...]

By: Real sandara

Real sandara — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:09:54 +0000

Really i am new player in the form of shan . Thanks for letting us know that even professionals find it difficult to practice what we preach. It & a good reminder that you are human like the rest of us, with quirks and peculiarities, and the things that come your way.