Removing Barriers To Progress

Many times we want or need to do something that would be beneficial but some obstacle prevents moving forward. We may not even be aware of the obstacle’s existence – we just think of the activity, the obstacle flashes across our minds for a micro-second (if even), and we abandon the activity. This process occurs so quickly that we may not even notice that a possibility is there before we reject it.

Most obstacles that keep us from doing what we want or need to do are often just small, correctable issues. Spotting these tiny barriers may not be easy but paying attention to the step-by-step process for doing any task may show the barriers that block progress. In “The Happiness Advantage” Shawn Achor talked about removing a barrier to practicing guitar by simply moving his guitar stand from the bedroom to the living room. {Yes, the rest of us are that lazy too.} Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit”, talked about overcoming a cookie habit by changing his response to the 3PM doldrums: instead of going for a cookie run, he does a stretch, a walk, and a bit of socializing. Many writers have described the effectiveness of removing an obstacle to exercise by putting gym shoes near the door or couch. {No one is saying any of this is rational – just that it works!}

Most tasks, activities, or projects have a point where progress slows down or halts altogether. In “The Goal”, Elihu Goldratt described how to identify and resolve bottlenecks. Goldratt mostly described manufacturing bottlenecks but the process works just for other types as well. Regardless of the type of blockage, the steps are:

identify what needs to happen and every step required to do it
identify where the process slows down or stops
identify what causes the blockage
consider possible solutions to remove the obstacle
do small-scale tests of the most likely solutions to see which work
troubleshoot the most promising solution to perfect its use
troubleshoot any unexpected problems or unintended consequences that arise

There are many different types of blockages but the common denominator of all is usually a need to break difficulties into much smaller pieces. This helps with nearly every aspect and type of obstacle, including mental or emotional ones. For example, people often live with piles of belongings that cause them to feel distress and berate themselves because they cannot make the decisions essential to put things away. This blockage can be a form of emotional paralysis that makes any decision nearly impossible and makes those who live with this condition unable to act on or even think about clearing up the piles without in-person support.

I believe the root of decision-making paralysis is usually some form of fear (worry, anxiety, perfectionism, or pessimism – all just different faces of fear) and that people in the grip of indecision need to stomp on the fear demon (steps for how at end of article), but this may not be true in all cases. When fear is the root of any difficulty, not confronting it is a form of perpetual running: as long as you do not turn and face the demon, it will always follow you, damaging your quality of life and self-esteem. Turning to do battle will reveal that the fear demon is nothing but shadows – it has no substance at all. Shadows cannot hurt you, so you can only gain by engaging in this battle. Most often, the things we are afraid of turn out to have no reality. Those that do are best fought with full understanding and active engagement.

For the rest of this article, I will assume that you are willing to go on a quest to defeat fear and other demons and will use the example of sorting and putting away belongings that live in a pile {yes, many people are afraid to even begin working on the piles of belongings that cause problems}.

The potential barriers to making progress with any task, including clearing out, are numerous:

physical – having low energy or many physical limitations, or not having a place to put things
emotional – the idea of doing a task triggers fear, resistance, or other negative emotion that restrains effort
mental – one does not know where to start, how to do the task, how to make good decisions, or whether the problem can even be solved
time – one feels so squeezed for time that important tasks are neglected
space – there is no room to act on good intentions, in this case, no place to put things away, or understanding of how to arrange them to be accessible

Here are the keys to overcoming barriers:

Always remember that any difficulty can be solved and that giving up deprives you of a more comfortable, happy life
If you cannot figure out how to solve it yourself, get help. Friends, family members, articles, books, or professionals can all help to identify and remove barriers.
The first step in solving any problem is to get calm and relaxed and work on the solution from that calm, centered, rational place.
Break the task or goal into as many tiny pieces as needed to reach one that is not intimidating or too difficult. The right size pieces to get you going may seem ridiculously small but do not let that bother you – any action that inspires more action is good.
Pick the right starting point. Many people that I help to get their homes under control try to start in the wrong place. Rather than try to organize the pile and put things away, the places where things need to go – the storage spaces – need to be organized first. This often means getting more and better storage, re-organizing existing storage, or discarding much of what is taking up space, or some combination of all of these.
When decisions or actions are hard, dig a little to find out why. Decision-making difficulty can be solid gold, providing clues to the real problem that must be solved to make solving the initial problem easier or more possible. The real reason is never a matter of giving yourself some negative label, such as a lazy, procrastinator, slob, or any other unhelpful and untrue name. Not only do these labels solve nothing, using them blocks finding the real reason. Something about this task turns you off; finding and solving it can be magic. So often the answers to these difficulties are little tiny fixes that just seem to make the problem vanish. So open your mind to look in the little crevasses to find the hidden treasure (like Sean Achor’s moving the guitar).
In the case of piles of objects that defy knowing how to put them away, this is nearly guaranteed to mean that existing storage needs to be used better and more storage is needed (this pretty much never means renting storage space – that should be reserved for emergencies – but often means furniture resources). Clues that the real problem is insufficient storage are that the normal space for items is already full (such as filing cabinets full of papers that are never looked at so current papers cannot be put away – in this case, most of the unused papers, usually old articles, need to go), inaccessible (i.e., other items block being able to get at it), or things are tumbled around in it. There doubtless should be bags or boxes leaving the home, but things that are staying need better homes and organization as well.

Beating Decision-making Demons
Always remember:

You can solve whatever barrier you are coping with.
Your life without your demons being in charge will always be better than with them running the show.
Laughing at your demons is the most powerful method for overthrowing them.
Prepare a snappy rebuttal for the lies that your demon tells you to keep you from acting in your own best interests. The rebuttal needs to be done in advance so that you do not get discouraged before you think of the best answer.

For more on making your demons do their proper work, read Harnessing Your Demons, Harnessing Your Demons, Part 2, and Harnessing Your Demons, Part 3.

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