Wednesday, May 15, 2024

ACTIVITY: Unfinished Business

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ACTIVITY: Unfinished Business

Make peace with your incomplete tasks, and free your mind for rest and recovery.

Chris Guillebeau

May 15

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A bridge to … nowhere? Not sure but it looks like it could use a bit more work. 📷

Do you ever find yourself lying awake at night, your mind racing with all the things you didn't get done that day? The email you meant to send, the project you wanted to start, the pile of laundry that keeps growing...

The “unfinished business” of life can nag at us. And if you’re like me, you don’t necessarily get up the next day feeling refreshed and ready to tackle it. You just keep pushing it away, and it continues to be, well, unfinished.

What to Do

At the end of each day, take 5 minutes to write down any unfinished tasks or nagging thoughts. Next to each item, note a specific next step you can take to move forward.

Important: make this step as small as possible.

For example, it could be:

Open the email you need to respond to and type the first sentence: “Thanks for your message.”
Set any notes for the project you want to start next to your desk
Put one load of laundry in the wash

Micro-steps are much easier to follow through on, especially when you’re feeling resistant to the overall task.

Then, consciously "close the book" on the day, acknowledging that you've done what you can and will be releasing the rest. That’s it! To recap:

1. Identify the unfinished business

2. Add one next micro-step

3. Move on

This ritual can help you make peace with “incompletions” and transition more easily into rest and recovery.

Oh, and remember: one way to make something go from unfinished to out of mind is to simply decide that you aren’t going to do it. Doesn’t work for everything, of course! But a general rule is that more can be left undone than we think.

How do you handle the unfinished business of life?