Putting your hard work and effort into a project and getting it 95% of the way there and then stopping, is not finishing. Finishing means 100% done. Finishing means your project or product or service can now be sold and selling means income. Finishing means you are free to move on to the next project or stop working and have some fun.
Yet we all have those 95% done projects sitting around, collecting dust, cluttering your mind, causing you stress. Undone projects are doing you and your business no good. You can’t sell them because they aren’t finished. You can’t forget them, because you always have that nagging feeling that you should get them done. Most of you won’t throw them away, because you’ve put so much of your time and effort into them that you don’t want to see all that hard work go to waste.
Guess what? Those undone projects are a total waste of your time already unless you finish them. You’ve already blown off the hard work and effort you put into them, so your time was of no value. Either let them go or finish them.
If you’ve totally lost motivation to finish one of the great undones, ask yourself two questions:
- Is there a big enough reward for me to finish this project? In business, that translates to sales either in the short term or the long term. If the reward is there, then finish the project. If there is little or no reward then ask yourself the second question.
- Will it hurt my business if I never complete this project and use my time to finish a different project instead? If there’s no hurt to your business, dump it and move on to a project that absolutely will reward you. Let go of the old unfinished business cluttering up your mind, your time, your office and your life.
The key to being productive is finishing what you start. So go grab an undone project. Decide whether or not you are going to finish it, and then either finish it or dump it. I guarantee you will get better and better at finishing what you start.
