Stephen Robbins here. Welcome to the Get It Done guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Today's topic is dealing with a poorly defined project. The quick and dirty tip is don't commit when you don't know what you're committing to.

If necessary, commit to figuring out your commitment.

Listener Emma writes,

I'm starting in a new job in two weeks' time.

The project the team will be working on is brand new, groundbreaking, and oh so poorly defined.

Is there anything you can suggest for determining the way forward with a poorly defined project?

Now, I'm sure this has happened to you.

You wake up, fully rested, feeling like a million bucks.

You stretch and really enjoy the sheets.

The shower's on in the background, and that's kind of odd, since you don't remember leaving

it on.

Suddenly, there's a knock at the door.

Who is it?

A muffled voice says,

Room service for the newlyweds. And you, whose last memory is being single and saying to your friends, I don't understand why tequila gets such a bad rap. Say to yourself, oh my golly,

what have I done? Again. The thing about commitment is that you only want to commit

when you know what you're committing to. If you're taking a job and the project is poorly defined,

don't commit to any specific outcome. That would be as irresponsible as downing tequila shots

on a weekend trip to Vegas. Don't commit blindly. You can't

commit to delivering the vague, squishy project on some hard, firm date, but you can commit to

defining the project itself. So you might say to your new boss, we have this big squishy

...