If you’re like others, there’s a decent chance you have several uncompleted projects around the house and at work. It can get pretty frustrating to look around you and notice all the unfinished tasks you have.
Sure, when you first started them, your interest level and passion for the project was high. But for some unidentifiable reason, you have a habit of leaving the tasks you start unfinished.
Would you like to change that usual outcome?
Follow these tips to finish the projects you’ve started:
1. Give some thought to why you haven’t finished specific projects. An important aspect of personal growth is to determine why we do what we do. This is especially true regarding behaviors we’d like to change.
- For example, perhaps you never finished cleaning out the garage because you’d be so tired after working on it all day on a Saturday, you didn’t have the energy to do anything fun for the rest of the weekend.
2. If you’re unable to figure out why you didn’t finish a project, it’s okay. It’s best to avoid spending a lot of time trying to figure out the “why.” If the reason escapes you, then just move forward and get started again.
3. Make a list of your unfinished projects. If this task seems daunting, just record the projects you care about finishing.
4. Decide which project you want to finish first. Circle it on your list. If you have a large number of projects listed, you may want to place marks by the top 3 you want to finish soon.
- Prioritizing helps you quickly carry your momentum from one completed project to the next.
5. Focus on completing one unfinished project at a time. Allowing yourself to forget about the other projects, at least while you finish the current project, is probably your best chance of eventually clearing out all the projects on your list.
6. Avoid getting overwhelmed. When you feel overwhelmed by everything you have to do, you tend to avoid doing any of the projects. When you focus on completing one project at a time, you’ll likely avoid those feelings.
- When feelings of stress start creeping up regarding all the projects you “need” to do, say to yourself something like, “I’m making progress because I’m working on project X now and it will soon be done. When it’s done, I’ll move on to the next one.”
7. Give yourself permission to ditch projects you no longer care about. As time passes, our interests change. Changing our minds is something we all do.
- For example, maybe you used to be interested in gardening. You have pots, mulch, or seeds you never planted. For the last year or so, you’ve figured out you’d rather be playing golf if the weather’s nice. Abandon this task and give away the supplies.
- If you no longer wish to do a particular task, it’s okay to rid yourself of the unfinished project. Your mind will be less cluttered and you’ll feel free of the unfinished project that was bringing you down.
8. When will you work on the project? When something is important enough, you’ll find the time to finish it. If you think another 2 or 3 hours is all a project needs, it’s possible you can complete it on a Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon.
- If the project requires a longer amount of time, consider your current schedule and how you could fit in 1 or 2 hours to work on the project twice a week.
You can finish what you’ve started if you put these steps into action. Learn to live an unfettered life by keeping only the projects you want and then finishing them!