How To Finish What You Start: 10 Important Tips

Do you have a habit of starting projects, but not finishing them?

Perhaps it’s your new business that you want to launch but you’re still stuck in planning phase. Perhaps it’s the new album you want to launch but you stopped working on it after the first song. Perhaps it’s the book you want to complete but you stopped writing after the first 500 words.

If you have been taking action and working on your goals, that’s a big achievement and you should be proud of yourself! Taking action is your first step to realize your goals.

However, if you have a habit of starting many new things but not finishing them, that’s something to look into. Here are my 10 best tips to finish what you start:

1. Be selective of what you embark on

When you start on a project (especially a large-scale one), be sure that this is something you are passionate about and want to see through. Personally I don’t start something unless I’m absolutely passionate about it.

I have embarked on things that I was half-interested in before, for example learning tennis or learning Japanese. Eventually I stopped them halfway. This resulted in a waste of time and resources which could have been better utilized elsewhere.

Because of that, I’m more conscious of how I spend my time and energy today. If you set a high threshold for what you want to do, the completion rate will be higher.

If you aren’t sure that this is something you really want to do, you can dip your feet into the pool first. Try it out on a small scale and see how you feel about it. For example, if you’re interested in starting a business, read up on it first. If you’re keen to be a writer, try a personal writing project (NaNoWriMo is a good place to start) or do a voluntary writing assignment. Another way is to sit on it for a few weeks. If you think about it every day for a few weeks, then you should give it a go.

2. Estimate the resources you need

In companies it is common to do resource planning, where they estimate how much resource is needed for a project. After which they plan out the necessary manpower and expenses. When we work on a project, we should make a quick plan of the time and effort needed, so we can have a bird’s eye view of the resources needed.

It doesn’t have to be exhaustive. Just a quick outline will help. The point is to have a plan to guide you.

3. Budget your time and energy accordingly

After you create your outline, you should have a realistic idea of the time and effort needed to complete it. Plan out your time and resources accordingly and incorporate the tasks into your to-do list. Block out time in your calendar for the tasks. Give yourself some buffer time as well, in case of contingencies.

Good planning helps you plan out your energy and expectation. You know you have to put in X hours and X effort to get the final output, so you can pace yourself to achieve your desired outcome. This will lead to a higher success rate.

4. Quit being a perfectionist

How many of us delay work because we want to get it right? I’m all for perfectionism and getting the best output, but if your desire for perfectionism is preventing you from getting things done, you should challenge it. If you’re stalled at a stage of a project and you keep revising it again and again, park it first and move on to the next part. Return to this later on and see it with fresh eyes. You may notice that what you were hung up on really isn’t that big of a deal. Also, constantly referring to your plan outline (tip #2) is helpful to get perspective. Your objective is to finish the project, so keep your eyes on the prize.

If your perfectionism is preventing you from getting started, try these two tips: First, break down the task into many little steps, then focus on one part at a time. If you still put it off after breaking it down, then break it down further into mini-pieces. Soon, you’ll be left with such a simple task that you would be wondering what was keeping you from doing this before! Second, give yourself the permission to do a draft version. Meaning, there’s no need to get it done right the first time. Just creating a draft, even if it’s a crappy one, is better than if you don’t do anything at all. Get started and things will roll from there.

5. Commit to it

Once you start, commit to it. Whatever you have planned, do them. Give yourself the option to exit if it’s not in line with your vision (refer to tip #9), but otherwise hold yourself to your word.

Likewise for you, ask yourself what’s more important — Going out to party for the weekend or working on that business you have been meaning to set up? The former may bring you some temporary gratification, but the latter is what truly gives you satisfaction. The rewards you get from doing the latter are rewards that you’ll continue to reap long afterwards.

6. Connect with your end vision

You may have experienced this. Whenever you begin on a new project, you’re full of energy and enthusiasm. Then when you get into the thick of things, this energy fades away, bit by bit. You’re still excited about the project, but you’re not so hyped up about the nitty gritty tasks that come as part of the work. After all, it’s the beautiful house you seek at the end, not the bricklaying.

But all the bricklaying IS part of what makes that beautiful house in the end. Every little bit you’re doing now counts toward that end vision. It’s easy to lose sight of this because you’re caught up with the micro-tasks that keep coming, one after another.

7. Follow the path of highest enjoyment

I find one of the easiest ways to complete my projects is to be flexible in my project management. In Tips #2 and #3, I mentioned creating an outline of what needs to be done, section by section, step by step. Now, most people will finish the tasks in sequential order. Task 1 comes first, followed by Task 2, then Task 3, etc. Sounds straightforward, right?

I did this for a long time until I realized it wasn’t the most effective method. For example, some days I would feel like doing Task 3, but if I followed the project timeline, I would have to do Task 1 before I could get to Task 2, then 3. The thought of having to do Tasks 1 and 2 first was a downer. This would slow down the project… eventually reaching a halt because working on it stopped being fun. Working on the goal felt like a hollow activity, of going through the motions.

Using this approach makes me feel like I’m in a candy store and I get to pick whatever candy I want. It excites me because there’s an element of choice. I also give myself the freedom to drop a task, move to another task, and return to the previous task when I feel like working on it again. Essentially, as long as I’m working on the goal, I’m progressing. So, it doesn’t matter whether there’s a task that’s not completed — it’s just temporary. And because I’m excited about my work, ideas flow readily and I work faster.

I refer to this as the path of highest enjoyment — doing what makes you feel happiest at the moment. When you do this, you automatically become productive in your work. Try this out and see how it works for you.

8. Track your progress

Tracking your progress helps you understand how you’re doing and gives you a target to reach. This makes it easier to build up your momentum. Create a project sheet to record your targets and your current status. Specify KPIs (key performance indicators) that you want to achieve. If your goal is to lose weight, your KPIs will be your weight, your fat percentage, and perhaps your performance during your exercise sessions (e.g. the distance covered in 30 minutes, how many weights you lifted). If your goal is to start a business, your KPIs may be your weekly customers, sales, and net income.

Every week, review your progress. What percentage of your end goal have you achieved? Are you on track vs. your target? Why or why not? What are the key things to do next? What is your target for the next week? Tracking makes you accountable to your goal and helps you stay on track.

9. Celebrate what you’ve done so far

Sometimes we get discouraged by all the things we need to do. It seems like no matter what we do, it’s impossible to finish everything. The amount of work overwhelms us and we stop halfway.

Here’s the thing — everything you’ve done so far IS an accomplishment! Many of us tend to focus on the last finishing step as the most important task, but really, everything you’ve done and what you’re doing now contributes to the final product. So celebrate it. Give yourself a huge pat on the back and a big bear hug. 🙂 Celebrate the process: the resting, the doing, the completion, everything. Take this chance to recharge and regroup. When you’re ready, continue on with what you’re doing. You’re really doing a fantastic job!

10. Don’t force it if it’s really not working out

Sometimes, it just happens that you lose interest in the goal. It happens, and it’s normal. We change, our interests change, and we get new ideas and inspiration the whole time. Some people may feel that it’s a waste of their effort if they do something and don’t complete it, so they push themselves to go on.

Personally, I think it depends on the situation. I think whatever effort you’ve put into the task is already a sunk cost, and it shouldn’t factor into your decision of whether to continue doing it or not. The things that should influence your decision are (1) the benefits you will get from completion, and (2) the costs involved to continue on (time, effort, and resources needed). If the goal is really not working out for you, then I recommend you drop it and move on to the next thing. Spending more time on it is just a waste of time. Considering you have no desire to do it anymore, you’re expending a lot of energy to overcome that resistance! Think of it as pushing a car up a hill. For all that energy you spend battling your resistance, you can use it on something else.

It may seem like a big waste to drop all that’s done, but it’s not that big of a deal. You are capable of achieving a lot more than you realize. What you’ve done so far is just a small speck of what you can achieve. Trying to hold on to what you’ve done just prevents more goodness from coming your way.

I adopt the drop-and-go approach as needed. For the 700+ articles you see on this blog, there have been over 200 articles (give or take) that never saw the light of the day. Some are 10% complete, some 30% complete, and some about half done. When I started out, I would make a point to finish every article. I later realized that I was wasting a lot of time writing articles I had lost inspiration for. On the other hand, when I follow my inspiration, the writing becomes much easier.

You may ask: Wouldn’t all the work that went into writing the partial posts go to waste? Not at all. They add to my 10,000 hours of experience. I learn from writing them, and this learning will come in handy for my future posts.

Give yourself the permission to drop what you’re doing if it’s not working out, and you might just find many new things coming your way after that.

Of course, don’t start dropping every single thing you’re doing now just because you lose interest. It’s a benefits vs. costs equation. If it’s almost done (99% completion), and the benefits from pushing through that final 1% far outweigh the costs, then go ahead and get it done. It’s a judgment call that you make from weighing out the benefits and costs.

Apply the Tips

Review the 10 tips above — how can you apply these tips in what you’re currently working on? Write down your answers and start acting on them.

Bookmark this guide because it’ll come in handy in the future. When you’re starting a new project, use this list as a guide. If you feel burnt out midway, apply the tips and it’ll help you swing forward.

If you have found this guide helpful, do share it with others on social media. Let’s share this with those who can benefit from it. 🙂