Paperwork. Craft project. Fix-it jobs. Painting, re-potting plants, cleaning the BBQ. The list is endless.
Unfinished Business is distracting, annoying and sometimes people hassle you about it on top of all that!
Unfinished Business can be stressful, adding to the burden of things on your mind. The more U.B.’s you have the worse you feel.
Unfinished Business can look like a stuffed craft cupboard, a workshop bench you can’t use, I’ll-sell-that-on-TradeMe-one-day pile in the corner of the garage.
12 Easy Hacks For Smarter Living – Autumn Checklist (also winter)
I want you to have a Vision Of The Future… Think about the ramifications of NOT doing some of those U.B.’s. Your summer self looking at your gross, congealed, smelly BBQ. Your kids trying to use rusty dirty bikes. Being unable to find that thing to make something for your grandkids and having to go and BUY ANOTHER ONE.
The following ideas just might help.
This all sounds easy, but it can be really hard. Time to brace yourself, gird your loins and get tough. JUST KIDDING. It’s totally easy – it’s just one thing at a time!
Anyone can do that, right?
The Steps:
- Pick one (one only) unfinished project. That’s one job (1). Do not get distracted by other things in that space. Focus.
- Look at it with fresh eyes. Take it out of its container, pull off the cover, move it to a new space. Take a moment.
- Think about these things:
- Does it make your heart sing. Yup – woo woo stuff right off the bat. Could be for any reason, the money you’ll make, the sheer relief of finally getting that job done, gifting the finished piece.
- Do you NEED it. Not just like-the-idea-of-it, or the future you that’s going to actually do something with it. NEED. Right now.
- Do you actually HAVE to deal with it. Legally, financially, morally, responsibly. The your-future-self-will-hate-you, bad-things-will-happen-if-you-don’t, kind of have to.
- If the answer to any of these three questions is yes, deal with it. Right now. That means either of the following things:
- Put it where it belongs. If you’re going to do the craft project, put it by your chair or on your desk. If it’s paperwork put it on your keyboard.
- Do. It. Clean the BBQ. Put that one thing on Trade Me. It’s just one job! You’re ignoring all the other jobs right now.
- Temporarily store it in an organised way. Make a container for similar things and label it.
- If the answer is no to all three questions, deal with it. Right now. That means doing any of the following things:
- Shred it or recycle it. Right now.
- Donate it. Put it in your donations bag or box or put it in your car.
- Take it to the tip. Put it in or near your trailer or car. Make the time to take it away.
- Sell it. Post your ad right now.
- Give it to a mate. Call them, right now.
- Stop. Go and live your life.
- Repeat when you can, regularly. Schedule it even. Just make progress.
Remember how good you felt after doing that one thing? The job itself might have sucked, but you did it!
Your future self will thank you and your burden is a little bit lighter.
Keep doing it.
Just imagine how much better you’re going to feel (and you’ll probably get hassled less too).
X
