Crossing the finishing line

“You could try finishing some projects.”

That was Keira’s Make+Do challenge to me this month. Simple right? I was happy to accept the challenge and started with a list — I love a good list.

The list of projects that I could feasibly finish in what seemed like a vast amount of time between March 1st and March 31st quickly filled a page in my sketchbook.

I realised two things after making this list:

1. I wasn’t going to be able to finish all of them
2. Almost every project I have ever started remains unfinished in some way

Shit.

I usually have less difficulty starting a project. This stage is exciting, there is an abundance of ideas and possibilities! But I am definitely rubbish at finishing them; why is this?

Projects were on the list, I realised, because they had reached one of two stages:

1. a difficult bit (a task that I hadn’t considered during my enthusiasm at the start of a project) or;
2. a boring bit (one that I knew was coming and put off because I didn’t enjoy it).

The difficult bits are generally passed after leaving them to sit in the back of my mind for a while until an inkling of a solution comes forward. I trust this process and generally leave it to take the time it takes.

But the boring bits linger, not getting done, and not getting any more interesting. These are mostly the finishing steps involving joining the dots to complete a project. I often find that I don’t have the patience for these activities.

So how did I get on? It’s the end of March tomorrow and I have managed to finish a grand total of one project: a wooden jewellery box which I started in 2013 and has needed sanding and oiling since then.

I could make excuses and say it’s been a busy month, involving a 50th birthday party, a trip to London and a Father Ted themed evening of informative talks & fancy dress. But really it could be any month and I would still have struggled. However, the number of projects that I had to finish to complete the challenge wasn’t specified, so this counts as a success!

What can I do differently? Acknowledging at the start of a new project that the boring bits have to happen and setting a deadline for them would help. But what about the list of unfinished projects? I have started a ‘boring but important’ list (yes, another list) in my sketchbook. I hope that by breaking these tasks up I can set deadlines and target each of them individually.

Which stages of a project do you struggle with? What are your methods for getting boring work done? Share them at #makeplusdo