Be a 'Complete' Person
Posted on January 04, 2017 by KC Hildreth, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
Incomplete projects or to-do's have a detrimental effect on your well-being. Complete what you start, or let it go.
A while back I noticed that I had the habit of starting little projects but not completing them. I loved starting things – getting excited about them, doing the ground work, building the initial structures – but seemed to get bogged down when things got busy or complicated. So I would stall, leaving my project open ended and unfinished.
Leaving something undone is more than just a bothersome habit. It actually has psychological consequences that can affect your work in many ways. Firstly, an incomplete task is something that you feel the need remember. It is a ‘to-do’ item that must be recycled on your list, and therefore occupies brain space. Secondly, open-ended tasks, if they accumulate, give the feeling of overwhelm because there is constantly a feeling of work hanging over your head. Eventually you get depressed because you know you have so many things to ‘do’. Lastly, if you leave an unfinished task long enough, it can become an ‘emblem of failure’ in your mind. You start to see yourself as unable to do in the world, and this hurts.
Look around you today for ‘incomplete cycles of action’. Find the things that lie undone in your mind and in your life. Resolve to either complete them or take them off your list entirely. Get your desk clean, empty your closet, send that email. Lighten your load! Once you do you will immediately open up more space for productivity and creative work. Try it…it works!
