Three kinds of energies are in play when you are working on a project.
When you start a new project, you are excited. It is like falling in love. You feel euphoric and invincible. You make announcement, start the project, and don’t mind working long hours. You are fuelled by what I call the Starting Energy.
As the time passes, the Starting Energy diminishes. You get into the thick of the things and you feel less and less motivated. You’re still excited about the overall project, but you’re not so crazy about the nitty-gritty tasks that come as part of the project.
That is when you need the Keep-Going Energy. Keep going energy does come by itself, you got to summon it. Every little bit you do during the keep-going phase counts toward realizing that end vision. You need your end vision to sustain this energy. If you lose that, the Keep Going energy fades away and your are left with an unfinished project.
Many people love to start new projects but don’t finish them. They lose the end vision.
It is when you need the third kind of energy - the Finishing Energy. The Finishing Energy doesn’t makes you as euphoric as the Starting Energy does, but it gets lots done. Seeing your vision realized is a significant motivating factor that gets you put in more effort than you usually would.
But when you can’t summon the Keep Going Energy or the Finishing Energy fails to appear you are left with many unfinished projects.
I, too, have several unfinished projects. Some are half done, others are in their infancy.
I have found a way to summon the Finishing Energy.
To assign them an end date just before the holidays.
I discovered this strategy by accident.
I am in Tasmania on an eight-days vacation. Before coming here I finished three projects.
Finished the book Writer’s Toolkit.
Finished conducting ‘Write Your Book Sprint’ course.
Finished the first draft of the cookbook.
Rather than feeling stressed about projects during holidays, I have started giving myself deadlines to finish them before going on one.
Doing so helped finish the projects in half the time. And it doubled holiday enjoyment. The elation of completing the work and the delight of no work during the break.
I am going to spend next three weeks finishing some of my unfinished projects before going on overseas vacation on 21st of May.
Do you have projects that have been hanging on your neck for some time?
Here is what you can do to finish them.
Figure out which one you want to can. Not every project has to go to completion.
Set aside a month or a week (depending upon how much time you need) and work solely on finishing that project. Don’t start anything new.
Stop being a perfectionist. Get the project done first. You can always improve it later.
Make the project fun somehow. I have turned my cookbook into recipe cards that I will send to my readers sometime in the future. This fun idea helped me finish the cookbook project by igniting the Starting Energy once again.
Try it. You won’t regret it.
Welcome to new subscribers.
I am having a much-needed break in Tasmania. I will write about it in my next letter.
That’s all from me this week.
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Reading this reminds me , how much I miss reading you. Neera. I love the finish energy, the one that’s stays with us from the start right to the end.
I like the idea at looking at these as different types of energy. I'm very good at starting energy and have far too many ideas. I'm better at keeping going and finishing than I used to be. For me the secret to keeping going has been a combination of carving out a dedicated time and getting over the perfectionism. I also benefit from a deadline for completion - although pressure can vary in how much it helps and how much it hinders me.