If you’ve ever had a project fall victim to shifting priorities, raise your hand.

Yep. Us, too.

We have all had projects that stall or “lose steam” along the way. Projects without hard deadlines seem particularly easy to set aside in favor of something that seems more pressing.

But non-urgent projects have value, and that’s what makes it hard. What should you do when something you are excited about has to slide to the back burner? Should you pause, continue, or abandon a project when other tasks demand attention from the team?

We've all been there – staring at a project that should be moving forward but somehow isn't. Anita and I call this feeling "spinning," and it's one of the most frustrating experiences in professional life. Whether you're physically drained, mentally stretched, or working at the edge of your expertise, being stuck on something you know has value feels awful.
 
I've kept a sticky note on my monitor with simple wisdom about how to break free from project paralysis: "What is my understanding of the task? What do deliverables look like? What are the first 3 steps?

​At Reach Partners, we spend a lot of time developing show flow documents.
 
That’s because they are one of the most powerful tools for ensuring an event’s success.
 
A show flow is more than a spreadsheet or a checklist. It’s the operational backbone of your event, the single document that holds the who, what, when, where, and how. Whether your event runs for one hour or spans several days, the show flow becomes the go-to reference that keeps every person, every detail, and every resource aligned.
 
Here are several qualities that make a show flow valuable:

Anita and I have our own language when it comes to giving directions while driving.

When Anita says, “turn right,” I'll promptly turn left. Almost every time. Meanwhile, when I announce that “We need to head north,” she will ask: “Which way is that?”

Apparently, we have complementary directional abilities. I can't tell my left from my right, but I have strong spatial awareness and can almost always point north. Anita can give clear instructions with the confidence of someone who absolutely knows where she's going, but she has no idea which way north is.

Our solution? We acknowledge these shortcomings and turn ourselves into living directional coordinates. Now Anita says “take an Anita” when she needs me to turn toward her side, and “take a Rachel” when we need to turn toward mine. Problem solved.
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In our work at Reach Partners, we’ve learned that client projects also require translation – or a new collective language. After all, communication is more than finding the right words; it’s about making sure everybody understands where we’re heading.

Some of us are wired to think – and we do so deeply, thoroughly, and in spirals.

We imagine the possibilities. We anticipate outcomes. We consider people, timing, risk, and reward. Thinking is how we prepare. Thinking is how we protect.

It’s good work.

But thinking is only part of it.
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As Eddie Rickenbacker, an American fighter pilot in World War I, said: “The key to success is to think things through and then follow through.”

Reach Partners is fortunate to share office space with a voracious reader. To nobody’s surprise, none of us hesitated to start an interoffice book club when Rachel suggested we read a book together.

The three of us are now on our second book. We don’t have a hard schedule. We jointly determine how much to read for our next discussion, and I find an hour on our calendars that works well with other work obligations.
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We are reading Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. Two of us have read it before, but reading it again is not only helpful but insightful. I find this true of so many personal development books.

​Several years ago, Reach Partners started a practice that has now become an established tradition.
 
We initiated CCC, which stands for Coffee, Cheese Plates, and Cocktails. We are big believers that good food, good drinks, and good conversations go hand-in-hand. By adopting this strategy, we’ve been intentional about framing our relationship-building in a fun, informal way.
 
But let’s face it, this is also our much-more-inviting take on a CRM tool. This is how we stay connected with our current clients while learning about ways we can partner with new ones.

People often say they need something specific to generate more energy and are disappointed when they never seem to have enough of it. I suspect this gap occurs because we focus on the things that gives us energy instead of the processes we set up.

Think about it: How often have we been asked, “What gives you energy?” How often have you been asked, “How do you produce energy?” Maybe it’s the “how,” not the “what,” we should seek. After all, we have more control over the “how.”
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As I reflect on this, I want to share a few ways you can create positive, helpful energy:

After completing a post activity report (PAR) for a recent project, Anita and I discussed the wisdom of having a backup plan.
 
Yes, we complete a PAR for every project, which we talk about more here. But this post is really about dealing with yet another winter storm this long winter, and the plan we created to mitigate the risk of weather.
 
Creating a backup plan extends our strategic approach for achieving our client’s goal, which is our most important goal.

​It’s hard to take time for yourself when the calendar is full, but I’m learning that might be the perfect time to do so.
 
Recently, Rachel and I took an online course on self-compassion from experts Kristin Neff – if you’ve ever heard anyone referencing self-compassion, it was likely her! – and Chris Germer. They have been working together since 2010.
 
We didn’t have an extra 12 hours in our schedule, but making time for that course was worth it. We want to be the best human beings and project managers that we can be. We accomplish this by learning, growing, and expanding our thinking.