Hey Reader

It's time to come clean.

I'm a serial project-starter.

While that in itself isn't a problem, the real issue is that previously I've been a serial project non-finisher 😂

Starting something new is exciting! I love getting into new projects and planning out how I'll take action. Lots of possibilities, lots of potential.

Even those first action steps can feel good; getting things done and making progress feels satisfying.

Finishing a project though, that feels like work and commitment 👀 Ew.

There are a lot of reasons I give myself for not getting to that "finished" point, with some being:

• The project feels daunting...
• The project is boring...
• It's Friday, the project can wait...
• I want the outcome to be perfect and that's going to be a mission to achieve

That last one is the kicker.

The projects affected by that mindset are in a perpetual state of nearly finished. They're the ones we're close to an endpoint with, but haven't been able to assign it that "finished" label.

I've found a fix that's working well for me in tackling that mindset though, so let's have a look 😈

The idea - Use "soft finishes"

When we undertake a project, we typically follow the simplified steps of:

1. Idea generation
2. Taking action
3. Final touches
4. Completed

For some projects, we end up getting stuck on Step 3.

We're getting closer and closer to that endpoint we envisioned but never to a point where we feel like the project is actually finished.

This can very much be a symptom of perfectionism; we withhold the "finished" label for our projects because what we see in front of us doesn't align with the ideal outcome we hoped for.

Instead, we keep telling ourselves that there's more work to do on it. Eventually, these never-ending tasks can demotivate us and we add the project to the incomplete pile.

More than this, if we continually start projects that don't get finished, this can leave us feeling like we can't be relied on to get things done. Either in the sense of others relying on us, or being able to rely on ourselves 😔

My solution to this is what I call "soft finishes".

Rather than striving for the ideal or perfect outcome in my head, I set myself a milestone to work towards that's a bit more realistic and attainable for the resources I have in the here and now (time, effort, energy, etc.)

By calling it a soft finish though, I'm tricking Rebel Brain™️ into letting me move on to something else without feeling like I've failed to achieve what I wanted.

Does this mean I've given up on that ideal outcome? No, I'm just delaying when I'll achieve it and giving myself a satisfying finished-for-now point 😛

For example, if you’ve been working on a scrapbook and haven’t added the final touches, consider what would make it feel complete enough to share. Maybe it doesn’t need to be perfect, just finished enough to enjoy and look back on.

You are the person who gets to decide what finished looks like for your personal projects, so for those ones that "aren't quite done", who's to say they aren't?

Just because things aren't completed to the level we initially envisioned doesn't mean they aren't finished to an extent we can be proud of.

We can call them soft finished and move on to the next thing with peace of mind, and full permission to come back and tweak things when we've got more capacity to do so 😊

Let's take action

Take a moment to think of a project you've been working on that "isn't finished". With that project in mind, ask yourself

Soft finishes are a big help for any project that I know I'm at risk of iterating on for the rest of forever if I'm not careful.

For example, I set myself a soft finish every time I reorganise my office. I know it's never really in its final layout, but every time I move things around into new homes, I treat it like a mini-finish for myself. Still gives me that "job done" satisfaction 👌

Until next time!

- Jess

Sick of setting goals that don't get achieved? Learn the system everyday goal-getters are using to make EPIC things happen.