When Anne Lamott’s brother was 10 years old, he committed an act of procrastination that most of us can relate to: He waited until the last day to begin a written report that was due the next day. The subject: birds.
Her sibling was close to tears when her father put his arm around the boy’s shoulder and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”
Lamott tells this story to the students in her writing class to help them move forward when they’re feeling overwhelmed by the blank page.
“Take it bird by bird” is the sort of advice anyone can use to power through a Herculean task.
When you’re feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the project in front of you, remind yourself that you need only do one small part of it at a time. If you can finish one small part, you can move on to the next small part.
And, at some point, you won’t have any small parts left.
— Adapted from Bird By Bird, Anne Lamott.