A Dozen Tips for Completing Unfinished Projects

As we approach the end of each energetic season, we begin to think about the next season and how to prepare for it. We want to get the most out of the gifts each season offers. 

Now’s the time, as we near the end of energetic Fall, to put things into place for a comfortable, contemplative, cozy Winter.

One important way is to complete projects we’ve begun but which maybe we’ve had challenges finishing. Here are some tips.

1. Get yourself connected to the reason for the project. If you don’t believe in it, you won’t have any real motivation to complete it. Humans are motivated by pain or pleasure and most of the time, we’re motivated by pain. Get connected to any undesirable consequences that will come your way if you don’t get the project finished. If the consequences aren’t all that undesirable and you still can’t get motivated, maybe you’re just not supposed to finish it.
2. Write down the stepping stones that make up your project with pen and paper. Use pen and paper rather than electronically record with your computer or smartphone; it’s just not the same thing. Writing it down with pen and ink is a statement of commitment.
3. Write only three or less steps to take each day. Use index cards and place them in a prominent place to check in with them such as on your kitchen counter. When one step is accomplished, rip up the card and throw it away.
4. By the inch, it’s a cinch. If three steps a day are too much, one will do. In 30 days, you’ll have more than 30 accomplishments you might not have realized before and that's a lot!
5. Record it. Use you the Reminders aspect of your iPhone to prompt you to complete a task. Make sure you ask Siri (or Siri alternative for Android) to remind you at a specific time on a specific day. Promise yourself in advance that when the reminder comes up, you’re going to take action right then and there.
6. Be realistic. Don’t set up a barrage of tasks to complete all on the same day. Spread it out.
7. Once a day, spend at least 30 uninterrupted seconds seeing yourself with the end goal accomplished and while you’re in a good mood.
8. Have a friend hold you accountable. Ask him or her to commit to calling you once or twice a week to check in to get a progress report from you. Ask your friend not to accept too many excuses from you. If you keep coming up short, maybe you’ve set yourself up to climb too high a mountain. Ask your friend to help you get reasonable with your goals and the steps you believe you should take towards completing them.
9. If the project seems daunting, instead of mapping out plans from start to finish, reverse engineer it. Start at the end result and go backwards jotting down or diagramming what it would take to achieve each step.
10. Just get it done. It’s okay if it’s not perfect. Do your best but don’t hold up completion of the project because it’s got to be perfect.
11. Ask for help. If you get stuck, don’t know how to execute the next step or just can’t seem to budge yourself off dead center, call a friend for ideas or encouragement.
12. Reward yourself when the project is completed with something within reason and which you’ve been wanting to give yourself for awhile. Celebrate!