The big “doers” in life tend to be those who are consistently working, piece by piece, on at least one or two big projects at any one time. They get it done. Not in a week of caffeine-fueled frenzy, but in a half-year of small, frequent steps forward.

Reduce from a project to a reasonable task.

Extract some reasonable task that will simply move you closer to the full project goal. “Reasonable,” in this instance, means that you have what you need to get started, and the whole task shouldn’t take more than 1 to 4 weeks to complete.

Construct a habit-based plan.

Your willpower sucks. This is why the secret lies in having a plan. Figure out when and where you’re going to work on your task and what you are going to accomplish. Try to find a place and time you can hit consistently – something you can transform into a habit before your excitement for the project wanes.

I had to make it a habit because there was no way my motivation would hold up consistently, day by day, over months. But once this became ingrained, it was just something I did. Accomplished work accumulated. I didn’t fret about it. I didn’t gnash my teeth or procrastinate. It became a hum in the background noise of my life, and, eventually, it got done.

Complete and repeat.

Once your new task has been selected, come up with a new habit-based plan, and get back to work. Your path toward project completion will proceed along these lines. One small task, efficiently executed, at a time, until, eventually, you get within striking distance of your goal, and make that final sprint.

This doesn’t sound glamorous. In fact, this approach stands in contradiction to the fevered-genius image of accomplishment that the media so often associates with big achievements. But more often than not, this is how it really gets done. 

Once you integrate this style of work into your daily schedule, you’ll be surprised by the size of the endeavors that begin to enter into the realm of possibility for you to tackle. From term papers to life-changing quests, the skill of completing large projects is crucial. Today is as good as any to start working on it.

From: Cal Newport in Three steps for completing large projects