Are you the sort of person who gets really fired up and excited by new ideas, who dives straight in … and who then loses enthusiasm and ends up with dozens of half-finished projects all on the go at the same time?
If so, I can sympathize! In the past, I’ve had all sorts of works-in-progress – like novels, craft projects, self-study courses, ebooks – on the go. I tend to jump on new things with lots of energy, only to find that I’ve taken on too much to cope with.
Of course, you’ll probably know all the drawbacks of having lots of partially-completed projects hanging around. If your projects are ones which pay (like articles, ebooks, websites), then you’re not making any money because nothing’s finished. If your projects are related to a hobby, particular a crafty one, you’ll probably find that you’re using up a lot of physical space. And in almost every cases, half-done projects take up mental space.
I’ve learnt that there are three key options for dealing with projects that are lurking in an unfinished stage. They are:
- Ditch That Project – Completely
- Salvage What You Can
- Decide to Finish It
Here’s how to know which option to pick, and how to go about it.
Ditch That Project – Completely
Sometimes, you start something and – for whatever reason – you lose interest. I’ve started learning several programming languages, only to give up in the early stages. You might have begun knitting a sweater, learning a language or creating a website, only to find you’re not enjoying it much.
Momentum coach Charlie Gilkey characterises these projects as “dead”. That might sound brutal, but sometimes you need to be brutal with cutting down the amount that your brain is trying to cope with:
Why have a dead category? Because some projects are neither completed, on hold, nor active. A perfect example is a project that you’ve decided to abandon. It’s important to know what’s in your project graveyard so you don’t keep trying to work on it. This category gives you hard edges; hard edges can save your sanity.
(Charlie Gilkey, Stop Shuffling and Start Creating, Productive Flourishing)
If you realise that you simply have no interest left in a project, make your mind up and ditch it. You’re not taking any action on it anyway – you might as well make that a conscious decision.
You’ll probably want to:
- Give away, recycle or throw out materials related to the project
- Contact anyone else involved to let them know
- Resist the urge to take on anything extra to replace this dead project – you know you don’t have the time for it!
Salvage What You Can
Sometimes, you’ve lost enthusiasm for a project but you still want some sort of useful outcome. In many cases, it’s possible to salvage something from the work, time and money that you’ve already put in.
For example, if you started writing a 100-page ebook and only got 20 pages done, you might not want to ditch that project completely. How about using those 20 pages as a series of blog posts or newsletter articles?
If your project involves academic or professional qualifications, it might be worth pressing on until you’ve completed a particular stage or until you’ve got the credits for your current module.
When you’re looking at salvaging a part-finished project, try:
- Finding the next point at which you can have something complete (even if it’s not what you originally intended)
- Selling back any materials involved
- Potentially handing over a part-finished project to someone else to complete
Decide to Finish It
If you can’t bear to abandon your project and if you can’t salvage it part way, then make up your mind to finish it – and really commit yourself to this. You’ll want to:
Set a Deadline
In some cases, you’ll have external reasons for a deadline. Often, you’ll need to pick a somewhat arbitrary date. How about your next birthday, or a particular holiday? Tying your deadline to a calendar event can help you stay focused.
Once you’ve set a deadline, write it in your diary or on your calendar, and take it seriously. If your project involves other people, let them know the deadline – knowing that people are waiting for the finished project will help keep you on track!
Make a Checklist
One reason why we often put projects down and fail to pick them up again is because we’re not sure what to do next. If projects have been lying untouched for a while, it can be tricky to remember where we got to.
Make yourself a checklist that covers all the major steps that you’ll need to complete in order to get from where you currently are to the finish line.
Set Milestones
Finally, combine your deadline and your checklist to make a series of milestones – interim dates where you want to reach a certain point on your checklist. This helps you stay on track, and shows you how a little bit of work on your project on a regular basis can get you a very long way in a year.
How many half-finished projects do you currently have? Do you keep starting things without finishing others? What might you need to ditch? What can you salvage? What are you committing yourself to completing?
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This is such a breath of fresh air. I think the main reason that I have too many projects up in the air is that I say yes to too many things. I get so distracted by new ideas and adventures that I lose sight of my commitments. Ali, I think your 3rd point is most relevant to me. Sometimes I need to set a deadline, make a plan, and stick to it. At the end of the day, it’s all about our big priorities, not the thousands of insignificant ones.
This was very insightful. It is somehow a very scary topic, because it forces me to think about abandoning some of my ideas
I sometimes struggle with my commitments to learn languages. I truly enjoy the process and I am progressing slowly. But sometimes is so difficult to justify why on a Sunday afternoon I am studying. And it demotivates me when I see that no deadlines really help. Do you have any insights for this kind of long-run slow-burning projects?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Cristina,
Why is it you want to learn the languages? Is it just for its own sake — or do you plan to visit countries where you can use them? Sometimes, even when the process itself is fun, having a definite “end goal” in mind can help.
Do you find that you study best at particular times of day? You could experiment with studying in short bursts — just five or ten minutes of vocab learning several times a day — or with doing one or two long sessions each week (which sounds like what you’re doing now?)
Good luck!
Ali
Great post Ali- I can connect with what your saying.
I’ve been reading Napoleon Hill and one thing that jumped out at me was the topic or concept of definiteness.
Every project we commit to needs to fit into our vision long term and definiteness is the glue that keeps us on the move and give the project value. A project must be integrated into the long term vision.
its all a juggling act, and like you said Ditch it.. if its not working – Decide to salvage what’s of value. Thanks it was a good read
http://www.mpdspace.com/blog/humor/foreplay-the-key-to-sexy-goal-setting/
In case all of the too-many-projects are within the same area of your life, another idea is to sequence them and only work on the first. After the first is finished you can go on to the second.
Leonardo da Vinci was the god of unfinished projects. He suffered from ennui, says his sympathetic biographer. I too suffer from ennui (the opposite of enthusiasm). Anyway to get rid of it and return to the initial enthusiasm when the project was first conceived?
Learn from the experience and start better projects in the future?
When you first get excited about a project, try writing about *why* it excites you. Keep what you write somewhere safe, and go back to it when you feel uninspired.
Alternative, as Chris says, it might be that you’ve chosen the wrong projects.
You might want to try shorter projects that you can finish whilst in that initial burst of enthusiasm?
Loved this post as it reminded me about a post I recently did on my blog
Procrastination and lack of motivation plays a huge part in harboring unfinished projects – or even worst still not even beginning any projects you have previously planned at all:
http://www.knowledgereform.com/2009/10/08/stop-procrastinating-now-invoke-action-to-make-a-creative-life/
We must also learn not to complicat matters by trying to juggle to many projects at a time. Better to see things simply and with clarity by completing one thing at a time – you will eventuaklly get more done.
I wrote a small piece about the wisdom of living with simplicity:
http://www.knowledgereform.com/2009/11/03/the-simple-way-of-living-towards-peace-of-mind/
Self actualization goes hand in hand with self improvement . After the basic necessities in life have been attained, self improvement becomes an intangible. It involves things like personal discipline, mental focus, concentration, and goal setting. Most successful people have reached this stage in their life. These skills can be developed much faster by using the Learning Booth. It is a simple yet effective study aid that uses equipment combined with psychological tools to overcome previously developed poor study habits. Richard Provance, thelearningbooth.com
[...] many of you have dozens of projects, that just … stay at the first stage of development? Do You Have Dozens of Unfinished Projects? Here’s What to Do Are you the sort of person who gets really fired up and excited by new ideas, who dives straight in [...]
Hi Ali, thanks for this tips… I also have a HUGE problem when it comes to generating new ideas for projects:
I can’t find a way to organize dozens of thoughts I have around the project…
I’m trying to organize that stuff on Evernote or HiTask…
Another thing I’ve done is to print all of those thoughs and then paste them on my bedroom’s walls…
…but the truth is that none of these things have worked really well…
I’d appreciate any comments or tips…
Thank you for the post!