"Can you think of 28 different subject headings?" I asked him.

"Sure, that's easy ... different design styles, history of design, materials developments, what has sold and what hasn't ... gosh, there are at least ten famous designers that I can think of off top of my head who should be included ... that's part of problem - it is way too complicated!"

"Here is what you do," I answered. "Spend an hour right now writing down every topic you might want to cover. Don't leave anything out. It doesn't matter if you reach hundreds. Then, when you've got them all down, group them together so that they come under headings 'who', 'what', 'why', 'where' and 'when'. Your goal is to end up with not one huge, daunting project, but 28 tiny, easy ones. Then, when you have done that, get out your diary and put one mini project against each day for next 28 days. Work it out - each mini project will need about 4 pages work from you. Can you manage 4 pages?"

"Sure, 4 pages is easy."

And that was what he did. I called him once a week for next 4 weeks to check his progress, but he didn't really need much help. Just knowledge that I was going to call on Saturday morning kept him on track.

His 100 page project ended up at 130 pages in end. And not a single page of it was waffle. He handed it on time and received an 'A' for his efforts.

All that goes to show that solution is inside you all time, but sometimes it just need a little help fighting past panic that pushes it back inside.

A big task is ultimate in panic inducers. So don't do big tasks ... do lots of small ones. You will spend a lot less time fretting and a lot more time being constructive. And you'll have more time to relax.

The wise old bird, Seneca spoke truth when he said, "While we are postponing, life speeds by."