How Many Elephants Have You Eaten

How Many Elephants Have You Eaten I started JibberJobber almost twelve years ago to help people organize a job search and do follow-up better. Today I spent time working on the Log Entry redesign (for the umpteenth time) the process of redesigning this includes a written document, images, and in this case, a ten minute video.    Heres an image I put in my specs document: Does this make any sense to you? Without any context it might make some sense, but Id bet you dont know what I really want. My programmers could only assume what Id want, if I just sent them this image.   Hence, the written doc and video. As Im working on the specs for this relatively small project I feel a sense of being overwhelmed. This is one of dozens of high priority projects that Im making specs for. It takes a lot of time to create these specs, but Ive learned that I can either take the time on the front end (before I give it to my developers) or spend more than five times the amount it should take fixing, recommunicating, redefining, changing, etc. Like I said, overwhelming. But I do this, one project at a time, one detail at a time. And thats how you eat an elephant: one bite at a time. Imagine a 12,000 pound elephant in front of you. For perspective, thats about five times the weight of my car.   You have a fork, a pile of napkins, and a limitless supply of water (to wash it down, of course). Your task: eat the elephant. Overwhelming, for sure. One bite at a time. So here I am, working on my elephant. Down in the depths of details lots and lots of details. Lots of features, lots of specs, lots of projects. Overwhelming. Then I remembered: you eat an elephant one bite at a time, and I can spec this massive amount of work one feature at a time. This advice, one bite at a time, has been given to me many times throughout my life.   And I started to think: Ive done a lot of big projects. Indeed, Ive eaten a lot of elephants. I know that you, in your job search, feels like you are eating an elephant.   Its overwhelming. There are many things to do. Its foreign. Its confusing, humiliating, tiring, and an emotional roller coaster. You already know that you eat it, or do it, one bite at a time. What I want to remind you of is that this is not your first time. You have previously taken on huge, massive projects. You have successfully eaten other elephants, and you can successfully eat this one. Intimidating, I know. Overwhelming, I know. I also know that YOU CAN DO THIS. Go for it. Now. One bite at a time. How Many Elephants Have You Eaten I started JibberJobber almost twelve years ago to help people organize a job search and do follow-up better. Today I spent time working on the Log Entry redesign (for the umpteenth time) the process of redesigning this includes a written document, images, and in this case, a ten minute video.    Heres an image I put in my specs document: Does this make any sense to you? Without any context it might make some sense, but Id bet you dont know what I really want. My programmers could only assume what Id want, if I just sent them this image.   Hence, the written doc and video. As Im working on the specs for this relatively small project I feel a sense of being overwhelmed. This is one of dozens of high priority projects that Im making specs for. It takes a lot of time to create these specs, but Ive learned that I can either take the time on the front end (before I give it to my developers) or spend more than five times the amount it should take fixing, recommunicating, redefining, changing, etc. Like I said, overwhelming. But I do this, one project at a time, one detail at a time. And thats how you eat an elephant: one bite at a time. Imagine a 12,000 pound elephant in front of you. For perspective, thats about five times the weight of my car.   You have a fork, a pile of napkins, and a limitless supply of water (to wash it down, of course). Your task: eat the elephant. Overwhelming, for sure. One bite at a time. So here I am, working on my elephant. Down in the depths of details lots and lots of details. Lots of features, lots of specs, lots of projects. Overwhelming. Then I remembered: you eat an elephant one bite at a time, and I can spec this massive amount of work one feature at a time. This advice, one bite at a time, has been given to me many times throughout my life.   And I started to think: Ive done a lot of big projects. Indeed, Ive eaten a lot of elephants. I know that you, in your job search, feels like you are eating an elephant.   Its overwhelming. There are many things to do. Its foreign. Its confusing, humiliating, tiring, and an emotional roller coaster. You already know that you eat it, or do it, one bite at a time. What I want to remind you of is that this is not your first time. You have previously taken on huge, massive projects. You have successfully eaten other elephants, and you can successfully eat this one. Intimidating, I know. Overwhelming, I know. I also know that YOU CAN DO THIS. Go for it. Now. One bite at a time.