99% Done is not a Finished Project
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You know when you almost finish a project and its 99% of the way done? Sometimes you get pulled away or distracted by another more pressing project and you forget about getting back to it. Maybe you just lose motivation. Too much patience with yourself can also be a problem. Read on for a list of ways to stay motivated to finish a project, especially for your home.
Acknowledgement is our first step.
Are you here because you are straight out avoiding finishing a project right now? –Hey, at least you recognize you might have a problem! We all have to start somewhere.
I have a few 99% projects going on in my house. Painting the wood filler in the nail holes of “newly” installed baseboard is one such example. At this point I have already:
- painted the walls
- painted the baseboards
- installed the baseboard
- caulked the gap between the baseboard and wall
- repainted
- painstakingly shoved the wood filler in the little holes
- and even sanded the wood filler so that it’s perfectly flush with the baseboard
For me, pulling the paint brush out again just to put the dinky last couple coats on the wood filler is just the last step I always seem to do months later.
OK, more like years considering this is the current state on one piece of baseboard in my house following a hot water supply line break in 2013.
It’s on the to-do list and never seems to make it to the top.
That all changes the one day you decide do it. All of the sudden you feel a big sigh of relief. You didn’t actively think it annoyed you. However, it’s one of those things where you didn’t realize the unfinished work was still grating on the tiniest of nerves until it is over. Not necessarily acutely so, but in a numb/ something always present in the back of your mind sort of way.
Deep down we all want that sense of relief! If you are really nerdy and have a to-do list, you also want that check mark next to your finished projects.
How can we stay motivated to finish a project?
Make a plan and a deadline.
Sometimes it is not a matter of avoiding a project. Instead, it is a matter of having been totally forgotten!
Give yourself a hard date and schedule time to make it happen. Put a sticky note on your bathroom mirror, make yourself a popup reminder on your Google calendar, or schedule an email.
Tell a friend.
Accountability is one way. Celebrating a win is a lot more fun than owning up to a failure.
See what I’m doing to myself with this blog post? 😉
Come up with a reward for yourself.
I’m always up for a donut! What’s your easy and quick vice? Another recommendation on this route is to not have the reward on hand before–otherwise it might just get eaten and the project put off yet again…
It doesn’t always have to be food. You could do something like plan a house party where you can showcase you work.
I certainly tried this for our wedding rehearsal dinner. It was the one time our extended family would have a chance to see our master bathroom–many do not travel often. Unfortunately, it was too lofty of a goal, but at least it was a target and we tried! We also host a formal party every year. So showing off the master bathroom was the reward for the next party.
Given parties are known for wonderful food and drinks…so maybe it is all about food!
Request it as a holiday or birthday present.
I requested the gift of finishing projects for Christmas last year. I asked my husband, “I really don’t need anything (being in the nesting phase of my pregnancy). How about we pretend like we are moving out?”
Obviously, finishing the baseboard did not end up on the list. We ended up with boxes in the living room for a month while he was gone so it was kinda like the real thing. However, we also filled up the trash and recycle cans. It was a win!
I think I know what I want next year…
In any case, making it a “gift” (aka giving the project to someone else) is a perfectly valid way to finish a project. Which leads right into…
Make it a shared effort.
Make the load lighter by asking someone to join in the project. Not only does it put your project out there on someone else’s radar for accountability, but it also can make it more fun!
My husband and I blasted the tunes and drank our coffee while plowing through the stacks of paper and stuff stored in our office. It was way better with him than going at it solo! It sure was more incentive for both of us to stay motivated to finish a project.
Sell your house.
Definitely the most extreme measure*, but there is no better time to finish projects than last minute!
The next owner would rather have a complete house than a work in progress. Think cha-ching with your sale price going up for every project you complete!
Stay motivated to finish a project with a challenge!
So here is a weekend goal for all of us: take one project and get it done. Let’s see how much we can accomplish together.
I’m throwing it out there so I am incentivised too!
I think I’ll start by finishing off the roman shades throughout the house. I need cut the drawstrings to the proper window size. While I have shortened most of them, there are still just a couple that look like they are in dire need of No More Tangles!
*Actually, getting pregnant might be the most extreme measure. While finishing projects is not the purpose of getting pregnant, I certainly finished projects (oh, a master bathroom and a friend’s backsplash) as part of the, “Oh no! I’m not gonna have time to sleep much less finish project XYZ AFTER the baby is here!” If you don’t agree with that logic, the nesting part of pregnancy with the energy bursts sure was real in my experience. However, once baby arrives all projects that were not complete beforehand have about a 1% chance of getting done. This downside is why I did not include it in the list above. 😉
