Bird by Bird
There are many metaphors for breaking an overwhelming project into small steps that feel more achievable. I'm partial to one I discovered recently - bird by bird. It comes from the title of Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.
Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'