5 Ways to Become Astonishingly Awesome at Finishing Projects

Last week I posted an article about the benefits of becoming obsessed with finishing.

If that post motivated you but left you thinking, “Well that sounds great, but how do I do it?” then this is the post for you.

Below are five techniques you can do to become astonishingly awesome at finishing:

1) Think Through Your Projects Carefully

In order to be a superlative finisher, you must make sure that you are choosing the right projects to start in the first place. Rather than jumping in haphazardly, take a small amount of time and analyze whether the time and effort to finish the project are actually worth it. If not, don’t bother starting.

Don’t use this as an excuse to get stuck in “analysis mode.” You don’t have to have it perfectly figured out. Be honest, try to take everything into account, and then make your best guess. But even just a little forethought can save you a lot of time and energy.

2) Finish One Before You Start the Next

This is a simple but powerful rule: Always finish you current project(s) before starting a new one. This one technique alone will allow you get more done than you ever have before, especially if you have a habit of abandoning projects halfway through.

I use a technique I read about in “The Power of Less” by Leo Babauta. Here’s the gist:

• Make a “master list” of all your projects.
• Pick the three from that list that you want to work on.
• Work on those projects until all three are complete.
• You can bounce between them, but you are not allowed to add a new one until all three are finished!

This approach gives you the flexibility to work on different projects, but it forces you to finish them before you move on to new ones. It’s a very effective way to stay focused and make tremendous progress on your goals.

3) Break Up Large Projects

Some projects can be huge. If you commit to finishing them before starting anything else, you can get stuck in a rut that is hard to climb out of. This has the unfortunate effect of reducing your productivity.

To avoid this, break large projects up into small pieces, and then finish each of those pieces. For example, writing a book can take a long time, and if one of your three projects is, “write the book,” you may get overwhelmed, stressed, or just bored. You will also probably finish the other two projects on your list much more quickly, leaving you with only one project to work on.

If you limit your project to something like, “write chapter 1,” or, “finish the detailed outline,” then it becomes much more manageable. Once that’s done, you can add, “Write the next chapter” to your new list of three projects, along with two other important ones.

Don’t use the fact that you have broken up your large project into chunks as a way to avoid finishing the whole (i.e. don’t finish chapter 1 and then avoid adding chapter 2 to your projects list because you’d rather start other, newer projects).

If you have a large project you have broken up into chunks, and you are using the “three projects” method from above, then always have one of those three projects be a piece of your large project.

4) Finish or Abandon; Don’t Delay

If you have selected a project to work on, work on it until it is finished. If it is not worth finishing, then abandon it. Obviously, you want to avoid even starting projects that are not worth finishing, but if for whatever reason you don’t realize you’re working on a dud until you’re halfway through, it’s better to let it go than waste more time and effort.

The one thing you don’t want to do is to put it to the side “for now” while you work on other things. That is just an excuse that allows you to avoid finishing and go back to the excitement of starting.

Limit yourself to two options: finish, or give it up completely.

5) Reward Yourself for Finishing

Starting down to the path towards a new goal is great, and it should be rewarded. This will help you build motivation and momentum to keep going.

However, save your real rewards for when you finish.

This applies to both external and internal rewards:

• External – If you are going to do something nice for yourself, like have a good meal, buy a small item, take a day off, etc. as a reward, tie it to finishing.
• Internal – Train yourself to feel extremely proud and fulfilled when you finish. Pat yourself on the back, say nice things to yourself, or just take a few minutes to revel the in the glory of your completion.

For me, with my “three project” system, it is incredibly rewarding to be able to mark an item on my list of three as “done.” It feels even better to mark all three as “done,” and then move three new ones on in their place. There are definitely times where I feel motivated to keep pushing to completion just because I want that feeling of moving those items to my ‘completed” list.

Remember, nothing much happens until something gets finished. And the more you finish, the more progress you make. Use the five steps above to transform yourself into a master finisher and watch your productivity and progress soar!

P.S. Hey, if you like this post, why don’t you share the love and click the Facebook “Like” button at the top of this page…?
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By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

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