Struggling to finish things? You don’t need to finish
If you are struggling to finish things, you might be looking at it the wrong way. You have tried different things but nothing seems to work, maybe it is time to focus on making progress and not finishing it.
Action points
- Try making small progress every day.
- Don’t focus on the finish line.
- Gain clarity about what you need to do.
I find myself stuck on one task until it finished and that affects my other work as I don’t make any progress on the other tasks. If you have to show progress every single day, this becomes tricky and overwhelming. Not being able to make progress adds to a lot of stress about the tasks that were not done because you were focused on just one thing.
Or sometimes I just can’t find time to go back to an important project I started. I keep procrastinating until I must get it done at any cost.
If this situation sounds similar, it is time to change your perspective about finishing things.
The struggle
You have various things to do, different projects, and getting everything done can be tedious at times. Sometimes you find yourself nearing end in one of the projects, but the other project is not even moving forward.
This can be frustrating if you are juggling through multiple things at work or life or want to kickstart your dream project on the side.
You know what you need to do but somehow looking at everything that needs to be done, you just can’t make yourself work on it. You are struggling to finish the incomplete project and now you have started feeling bad about it. You are focused too much on the end product or the finish line. Pause and refocus on the process.
It’s not about finishing
When we start something, we want to wrap it up as quickly as we can. The initial motivation makes us underestimate the efforts that we need to put into completing it.
While there is always that finish line that we need to end at, but it comes after the start and there is progress in between.
There is a journey between the start and the end. This is something that is very important when we are in the middle of a journey. We think of things as binary, with a start and an end. This makes us not enjoy the small progress that we make. We aren’t happy until it is completely done, any progress is just worthless.
It is always about the journey, start and the end are just small parts of the journey. Most of the time will be spent on the journey from start to the end and that is what we need to enjoy the most.
Making progress
The major reason is not having clarity about other tasks. The one that is done or you started with, you can project with some certainty how far you are and how much more it will take to get it done.
This is not the case for the tasks that you have not yet started.
Make progress on things, maybe block some time for planning and plan out every single task that is pending in your list. Having clarity is more important, try focusing on that every single day.
Set small goals or tasks for yourself each day and be grateful for finishing them. The small steps every single day will compound into significant progress one day and these small steps will create something big.
Think long term
You need to start thinking of your efforts more like savings. Put a small amount of effort every single day and you create something big. Everything you do today will help your future self. You are doing it to make your life easier in the future.
Even if you make small progress today, tomorrow you will have something done, otherwise tomorrow you will have more to do.
Take away
Think of work as a compound effect, small progress every single day compounds into the final output. If you are struggling to finish things, don’t think about finishing them, make progress.
Seeing something progress will give you the motivation and momentum you need to reach the finish line. What are you waiting for? Just start planning and make some progress.
Enjoyed the post? Read more mindfulness and productivity posts like this on DoRemember blog.
We share perspective on the daily challenges in life that block us from living a happy and fulfilled life.
