Got Lots of Unfinished Projects? Here’s Why.
Hint: it’s not a “productivity” problem
My life is littered with unfinished projects: a wilted, weed-choked tomato garden, three skeletal websites, four scenes of a TV pilot, two unedited novels, a half album of songs I’ve never sung to anybody.
I can’t even finish folding my laundry. It’s absurd.
Depending on my mood, I’ll blame it on different things. Usually, it’s life with kids, and the very real barriers that my darling little need-bombs put between me and any sustained attention to a task.
But recently, I’ve been looking closer at all these failures —part of an ongoing midlife crisis, I suppose — in an effort to understand them better. I want to stop repeating the same mistakes. And with a little scientific research and a lot of uncomfortable navel-gazing, I have found a better explanation for all these unfinished efforts.
The problem isn’t my kids. And isn’t a laziness, either. I don’t need some new, elaborate, self-care morning routine or productivity hacks. All the motivational speeches in the world will not help me.
The problem is the projects themselves: I’m choosing them the wrong way.
Let’s take my unfinished TV pilot as an example. It’s about a reformed supervillain in her…
