I need to find out how to finish anything I start. Help me. Please.
I am a horrible finisher.
I would consider myself reasonably smart (my IQ scores have generally kept between 125 to 148), I am considered a creative asset at the workplace, but the one thing holding me back is my ability to finish a project.
And this is true of almost everything I undertake; I have a track record of unfinished projects that shame me into seeking help. My projects folder is full of projects I started but left incomplete and unfinished; at work I have not yet finished this project that should have been completed by now.
This character flaw is undermining all my strengths and I have to combat it at any cost. Any advice would be appreciated.
173 comments
[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 152 ms ] threadThat would help a lot.
EDIT: Your IQ is not relevant to your ability to complete projects. It is possible your feelings about your high intelligence is a problem in that it keeps you from being willing to experience failure. These fears should dissipate as you incrementally do complete projects.
My early projects oscillated pretty widely in difficulty when I started. I'd take on something ridiculously difficult (but I didn't know it was ridiculously difficult at the time), and naturally fail at it. Then I'd take the skills from that and do something I knew I could finish. Eventually this converges, and the highs become less ambitious while the lows become more ambitious. I've found that I finish a significantly higher proportion of projects now than I did in college, and their difficulty levels more closely approximate a straight line than a sawtooth wave.
A lot of people are going to have trouble admitting this, but a diligent person of average intellect is about a hundred times more likely to become successful than a lazy person with a titanic intellect.
I can provide examples if necessary.
I know a lawyer of 16 years with a 145 IQ who is still making 55K a year. Ambition and diligence go hand in hand. She got the job right out of college and grew complacent, and now rarely attempts to find a better position somewhere else. Starting her own firm is almost certainly not going to happen. Other than diligence, lack of courage is also an issue there. Quitting your job and trying to build a clientele is scary.
I also know a very bright lady who cleans motels because she can't deal with people and just doesn't like working that hard. She works a few hours a day, at three separate places, with long breaks in between. She probably knows more about computers than I do; she's been manipulating them since before I was born, but she hates pressure, she hates deadlines, and she lacks confidence.
Trying to list all the unpublished author-hopefuls I know who just stopped submitting stuff would be an exercise in futility.
> I know who just stopped submitting stuff would be
> an exercise in futility.
That seems a little ironic in the context of this thread. :D
So, recently, I've tried to change my mindset to what you describe and build something small, useful to me, and that I can finish fast enough that I don't have time to lose interest. And I have a few other bite-sized ideas to do once I'm done with that. (my current tiny project: http://logmeoutthx.com/ I'm not so much interested in the thing itself as in completing it)
Important things:
* start with small things and set a specific completion date/feature spec.
* stop at a point where you know exactly what you need to do next. It's much easier to come back when you do this.
* use org-mode to plan/track your project. I like checking things off. The feeling of meeting mini-goals will keep you going.
Go forth and finish :)
2) write something (do not finish!)
3) release it (minimally, stick it on github or something similar)
4) blog about it (and post the blog entry somewhere where people will see it, aka here)
5) guilt will drive you to make it better
6) work on the project and blog more about it
7) Either people will get interested, you'll start getting links or it won't go anywhere
8) decide whether to continue it or start the cycle over again at step one with a new project
If you do this a few times, I guarantee that you'll have a blog with readership and a better idea of what people want/wnat to work on.
(I know that feeling of being an impressive procrastinator though. I think I fuel on guilt due to my catholic upbringing, that's why it works for me :)
My advice, as others have mentioned, is to start small ("Hello, World!" if you will).
http://mindoversports.com/2009/09/07/why-you-should-never-go...
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1139146
Summary: will power is a limited resource, like muscle power, than can be both exhausted and developed.
I try to create some sort of nice image in my head about how it would be if my project is ready. Then I try to recall this image if I see myself tripping off the path. Just to remember myself why I am doing something helps me a lot.
I usually write down the core features. I only allow myself to code something that is not on the list if I earned it by working on something on that list the same day.
Perhaps you should take a look into some parts of the XP (extreme programming) philosophy. One idea is that you work in iterations and that every iteration should produce something usable. In theory you could stop at any point and should have something 'finished'. In theory...
This simple routine, everyday, has proven to boost my energy and willpower throughout the day and into the near future. It has everything to do with doing something that requires willpower but isn't related to "projects". I've noticed ever since the hot-cold showers that my mettle is considerably more developed.
I highly recommend meditation, that is one of the keys IMHO. It really sharpens your mind - day dreaming is a form of meditation, you don't have to behave like a buddhist monk to meditate. I typically just sit in a comfy chair, close my eyes, and do one of two meditations: either a no-mind meditation (no thought) or a visualization meditation.
Set small goals, and celebrate success.
As for the not finishing stuff at work... That sounds more like burnout to me. If you aren't passionate about your job start looking for a new one!
Don't get me wrong, a lot of people consider this to be something only for "mad" people, but this is not true. When your belly hurts, you go to a doctor. Why not ask to a doctor when something in your head hurts?
Good psychotherapists can work miracles. I have some good friends that got some great benefits from this. They are very smart and absolutely cannot be classified as mad or even disturbed. Just normal people with some personal problems that a good "doctor of the mind" helped untangle and solve.
Mental problems are maligned and taboo, but a lot of the time, all we really need is someone to talk to. Someone who understands what we are getting at. You might be surrounded all day by people, by colleagues, girlfriends, maybe even kids, but none of them capable of having the type of conversation you need.
The longer I live the less I respect the popular stigmatisations that prevent me from going the simple, obvious way to get what I need - buy it from someone qualified and willing to provide it. A psychotherapist might well be a good means to an end. Who gives a shit, if you end up getting the results you want.
Draw your own conclusions about which other urgent "blocking" requirements, in need of quick solutions, this principle can be applied to.
You might have some insecurities regarding your skills or abilities that cause you to avoid getting a project far enough along to prove those fears right (or wrong). If this is the case, the fears conflict with your passion for creating things and cause you stress and unhappiness. Reaching out on this forum for help is a start, but a good psychotherapist can help you figure out how to see these fears when they are hiding in your psyche and give you tools to overcome them.
Because when your belly hurts, science understands what the possible causes are. Your real medical doctor may be able to diagnose one of those causes and treat it.
When your mind hurts, the existing base of installed psychotherapists belong to a wide variety of non-evidence-based "schools" where "non-evidence-based" means "some guy made up some convincing crap and some other people believed him".
I know of one form of psychotherapy that has some evidence behind it. The rest has been repeatedly tested and found to work no better than talking to a sympathetic intelligent person with no psychology training.
The current "in" schools of psychology are not Freudian or Jungian; they try to treat symptons rather than the underlying cause.
(Though "madness" can be seen as the limiting condition of bad mental habits.)
We're all clearly disturbed in some way or other, some worse than others, and it's a matter of finding help in functioning in spite of bad mental structures, and learning how to work with/around them, eventually perhaps overcoming them.
Sure, and the fact that we somehow manage to go on, does not imply that we would not be better understanding what weighs on us.
I have a younger friend that is studying surgery, and one of her professors once told to the class: "the best present you can give to yourselves is a good psychotherapy".
Obviously this professor isn't "the truth", but she believes (and I agree) this to be a good advice nonetheless.
http://www.reddit.com/r/self/comments/b4faj/i_need_to_find_o...
but with your CV http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AVHgzAaQYmIOZGdqanFjMjlfMm... , you shouldn't have a problem. Maybe your work does not motivate you or you too much of a perfectionist.
Are you a vegetarian? Maybe you don't have enough energy? My suggestion grub a jug of coffee, order a pizza and post the Project here on Monday.
I think when OP says incomplete, he means that his projects never acquire adequate functionality to be useful within the necessary context, which is kind of the opposite of your problem; you can't stop working on things, and he can't get himself to work on things long enough.
The solution for me was to partition my work into hilariously small pieces. When I start a project from scratch, my first few tasks are "create the directory hierarchy," "create a repository," "Hello World," and "create exception-throwing stubs for the basic functionality." The idea is to finish early and finish often. If you can't commit a working version every day or two, you may be working on chunks that are too large.
It'll even sound better to your boss! Instead of saying, "no, I am not done," you can say, "I finished X,Y,Z, and W, and I am having trouble with S and R."
Also, stand-ups are for your (the worker's) benefit, not your boss's. It's perfectly fine to say "I did nothing this past day" - your boss doesn't care (well, mine doesn't). But if you say "I did nothing this past day" for a week, you'll begin to feel like you're missing out on something, which is an incentive to look at what you're doing and bite off a smaller chunk of it.
The emphasis is on sustainability - if you can make some small forward progress every day over a long period, the project is more likely to succeed and every one wins.
You need to learn to make a small project that does very little then build on that.
If you have a project you need to get done at work, do it by doing the dirtiest hack possible that gets it done, then improve it in steps while you have time.
Some people are really good at starting and creating new projects up until they get the guts of the project right and then gradually lose interest.
Other people can't really come up with anything by themselves but given a start, will gladly work to finish it and become experts while at it.
Have any of your unfinished projects actually been good products? It's one thing to have a side project and play with a new technology over the weekend- that's cool, but it isn't a product. It's like when people post 'Ask HN: Review my startup!" and it's some twitter app they threw together in a weekend. That's not a product, it's a side project. Side projects can turn into products over time, but it's usually a tough transition.
A product has to be marketed. A product has to have you communicating with customers. A product needs a price.
b) find something that people can pay you for ie- your first dollar. Without making money, youre running a nonprofit, not a company. even if it's just ad space, put the ads up from the beginning. Money is a hell of a motivator.
c) have a targeted customer/user. you can get feedback from them and it will keep you going. seeing someone enjoy your work is a big motivator. you will feel you cant let them down.
d) try to have it be something that you yourself would use. it will force you to finish the project.
You can do this. I've been in similar spots. Forget potential failure or potential success. Just focus on finishing. Hope this helps and good luck!
1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.
http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2009/3/3/the-cult-of-done-mani...
I have the opposite character flaw of finishing everything I start. This is not very good either because sometimes it's better to throw things away. For example I spent 4 years studying economics although I find the subject rather boring. Also the personal projects that I've started stop me from starting other personal projects which also interest me.
My personal project takes so much of my time that I don't work full time as a programmer. I work about 9 months, then go away 6 months and conme back to programming. If the project I am working on is not done after 9 months, another programmer takes over. This is one way in which you could get other people to finish your projects.