UFOs (UnFinished Objects)

Starting a new project is like falling in love. It is exciting, emotionally arousing, infused with the natural motivator of novelty. Perhaps we even get obsessive about this new activity. We image it as "all good" and do not pay much attention to potential obstacles, negatives, or challenges we may soon face.

Then, after some time goes by, the activity or book or lessons (or whatever) turns into harder work than we expected. It takes longer to complete than we had hoped, or there is some tedium and drudgery involved. We realize we are not sure about the next step. Stuck, we grind to a halt.

Not that we recognize that we have essentially quit trying. No, we just put off the "getting back to it" until such a time as we imagine it will be effortless again. This sort of procrastination may or may not be fueled be perfectionism and the fear that the next steps may not be excellent enough.

Let's talk about UFOs. (That is craftspeak for unfinished objects; in other words, a craft project you started but never finished.) Most of us have at least a handful of unfinished projects: a half-written novel on our virtual shelf, a blog that never made it past the first three posts, a body that is not quite as healthy or fit as we want it to be, craft projects left undone, etc. Sometimes we made conscious decisions to put aside these projects when we realize they are not worth the time or something else is more important. But most often, unfinishing is not so much a choice as a result as of a lack of discipline.  Without discipline, you will not finish anything that matters.

Discipline is not all that important when you start a project because the excitement and adrenaline and potential are enough to drive you forward, to keep you making progress. This beginning stage is when each endeavor is typically the most fun; it is new, it is challenging, it is enjoyable; however, the longer you work on a project - especially a creative one - the more difficult it becomes to stick with it. Once you pass through the initial stage of excitement, you will enter into a phase that is far more challenging.

Finish The Projects You Have Started Or Call An End to Them

I realized a source of clutter in my house, and a significant drain on my energy is the uncomfortable presence of unfinished projects. Every time I see evidence of an unfinished project, I get a jolt of annoyance or guilt. The thought "I should finish that..why haven't I finished that" makes me flinch.

Unread magazines. Half-read books. Half-completed craft projects. I decided that one of my 16 goals for 2016 was to finish an unfinished project a month or put an end to it. I wanted to get them out of my way, one way or another.

I am lucky, though, because my half-finished projects do not make much of a mess, or at least you cannot see them. I have friends with bedroom corners and dining room tables that permanently house half-built Lego castles, dusty piles of recipes, or scrapbooks with half the pages filled in.

Unfinished projects are irritating in themselves, and they also contribute to clutter, because it is so tempting to leave an unfinished project out in the open, as a reminder to finish it, but then it does not get finished! For days, weeks, months!

For me, one of the most persistent, nagging, draining, unfinished tasks is dealing with photos. I enjoy the process of making scrapbooks, but if I do not keep up with it, I can get overwhelmed really quickly or I will have to deal with a million photos at once. I love looking at photo albums, and I know that in the long run making these photo albums will bring great happiness. Happy memories of the past are an effective way to make me happier in the present. (Thus turkey hat was one of those projects that looked better in theory than finished; ever had one of those?)

I went through my entire house looking for unfinished projects, and I pushed myself to either finish them or call an end to them. They were weighing me down. How about you? Have you ever felt this way about an unfinished project? I would encourage you to either finish it or call an end to it. You will feel accomplished either way. (This bib was a project that I started more years ago than I can remember - it is a counted cross stitch. It was supposed to say "Spit Happens" I would need a magnifying glass to do it now. The only project I threw in the garbage without finishing.)