Matthew’s Big ‘But’

So, here we are, just shy of the first week into 2010. By now, the X-wing fighters of New Year’s Resolutions have hopelessly smashed against the Death Star force field of Reality.

But not you. Because you don’t have resolutions; you have goals.

You are actively losing your big ‘but.’

So am I.

Unsolicited Moment of Transparency™:

At any given time, I have a LOT of projects in process. The current list includes:

– Preproduction on two music videos I’m directing (more details soon)
– Developing a feature film I scripted
– Completing two book proposals
– Shopping a reality TV concept
– Post production on a short film / charity benefit / viral campaign

I don’t list all this to be cool; having a lot of irons in the fire is just the nature of the industry. I mention this because it’s really easy for me to bounce from one project to another, moving quick as a hummingbird on meth, but not getting projects wrapped quickly enough, for my liking anyway.

The word in our pop culture lexicon for this approach is ‘multitasking.’ Hence, my big ‘but’ when it comes to achieving my goals is being too busy. My strategy for losing this big ‘but’: monotasking. Begin a task, see it through to the end, move on to the next one.

Obviously, a big part of monotasking is being able to quickly prioritize tasks. I’m not perfect at this, but I’m trying. My wife always says I have an undiagnosed case of ADH– hey, when did they cancel that ‘Cavemen’ TV show? ‘Cause it was on, right? And then the WGA writers strike happened and then, like, I never heard about it again after that. So weird…

In conclusion, as we hurtle headlong toward the heart of January, rapidly approaching the threshold between Talking About Doing Things and Actually Doing Things, we know that:

1. Accomplishing goals requires identifying and strategically overcoming obstacles — losing our big ‘buts’.
2. My big ‘but’ is being busy, which I will conquer through monotasking.
3. It doesn’t matter when Cavemen was canceled, as long as it never, ever, ever comes back.

– Matthew Porter

PS: Hey, swing by Hey Porter! again this Friday. We’ll be launching a new recurring comedy feature, a little something to make you laugh as you head into your weekend. See you then.