Chris Garrett is a professional blogger and online media consultant. Believe it or not, even he confesses to being a frequent sufferer of "Analysis Paralysis". In his post, "Defeating Procrastination" he offers a great four step process for recovery:
- What do you absolutely have to do for the project to be a success?
- What tasks can absolutely not be put off while later?
- What are the most painful items to change post launch?
- What could realistically go wrong?
Outstanding advice for anyone embarking upon ANY project.
I suffered from Analysis Paralysis when writing my book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results. It took me four times as long as it should have to write the book because I was fussing over making it "perfect."
Now, one could argue that when writing a book, perfection IS a realistic expectation. After all, once the book goes to press, it’s called "the 2nd Edition" when you have to make changes! <grin>
I hired a coach to help me overcome my paralysis issues. He helped me overcome the paralysis by analysis by asking a series of questions. One of the most powerful was this:"Would a releasing a 2nd edition REALLY be that bad?"
Most of his questions lead me to the realization that the only way I’d know what worked and what didn’t in the book was to move forward. Get it written, get it published.
With a blog, it’s so much EASIER and less PERMANENT! While changing the cover of my book requires a lot of time/effort expense, changing the look of my blog is as easy as installing and activating a new theme. If I think better of the example I used in Chapter 5 after publication of my book, then I’m forced to wait until I’ve compiled ALL the changes I want to make and then issue a 2nd edition. On my blog, if I think better of a post, I can easily go in and change it or even delete it.
In other words, the best way to get on the road to successful blogging is to JUST DO IT! Just get started writing.
