Have you ever been pulled away from a project? Perhaps you feared it was over and you wouldn’t get back to it. I know the feeling!
Now that I am back from France, it’s time to focus on my book. I took a hiatus during the summer and early fall. Turns out it’s a lot of work and focus required to lead two workshops in France! I didn’t have any bandwidth to focus on the book.
Sure, I have been thinking about my book and making notes about it. But I haven’t been driving it forward the way I would like.
This happens all the time – our steady going on our projects gets interrupted. Life will always throw us a distraction or something that we cannot avoid.
It can be distressing to be pulled away from our work. But a break doesn’t have to mean a breakup. Here are a couple of suggestions to make getting back into the groove easier.
Invite a deeper trust. Know that you will get back into it. Connect to the reason why you do it in the first place. Trust that you and your project won’t be done until the project itself is done.
Relinquish any angst or self-recriminiation about taking a pause. It’s just life. It’s not you or your lack of discipline. Okay, maybe it is, but you will know the difference between procrastination and an unavoidable interruption.
If you can, give yourself a return date. I knew I wouldn’t be doing any work on it until I came back from France. So I gave myself the return date of October 24th. I’m using the Atelier to help me with weekly accountability.
Getting back into a project you’ve been away for can be daunting. Where to start? I suggest a 15-minute date with your project.
Give yourself a short period of time to get acquainted. Don’t expect yourself to produce anything. Just get in touch with it. Read over what you’ve written. See what’s next. Give yourself the chance to get excited about it again. Before you know it, you will have clarity on the next steps. Set yourself up for a work session to do those next things.
Make the return graceful, not stressful. What has helped you come back to a project? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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