|
It’s About Time Ruth Wong |
Set aside time this week
to work on unfinished
projectsHow many of you read the account of Dan Carlock in "Boy Scouts rescue scuba diver forgotten at sea by boat's crew," which ran in the Star-Bulletin on April 29?
I watched Carlock being interviewed on television that morning. He said that while he was adrift for five hours in heavy fog seven miles offshore of Newport Beach, Calif., he thought he was going to die. He said he thought of all the things he had left undone in his life and of those who would have to make up for his mess.
Are you, like Carlock, one who has numerous unfinished projects? Or are you one who is focused and driven to complete what is started? My husband is one of the latter. He says that he's not comfortable leaving anything undone.
How I wish I could be more like him in that regard! I'm the type more likely to work under inspiration than perspiration, and because I like variety, I have several projects going on at the same time.
While it is fun to flit from one project to another, eventually finishing those with the most pressing deadlines, I've noticed that I do have an uneasy feeling, especially before embarking on a trip. That's when I shoot up my familiar prayer, "Dear Lord, please don't let anything happen to my plane, for I'm not organized enough to die!"
LIKE DAN CARLOCK, I dread leaving loose ends for others to wrap up. If you also worry about your uncompleted projects, may I suggest that it's time to begin to make a concerted effort to wrap up those loose ends?
Where to start? First, take an informal inventory of unfinished projects, then note the steps needed for completion. You might be surprised that some projects might be 95 percent complete and require only an hour more of work.
You might have lost interest in some of those projects, or find them no longer relevant. If so, they don't need to be completed, but you must consciously decide to let them go, and delete them from your to-do list and your mind.
Next, pick one unfinished project to focus on the coming week. Make a commitment to work on it by identifying the next step, blocking out time and writing it in your time planner, whether it's on paper, computer or PDA.
If you're a visual sort of person, it can help to leave yourself a physical reminder of the task to be completed. I like the idea of the Japanese daruma, the brightly colored roly-poly figure with the large white eyeballs. In Japan, when one begins a project or endeavor, one black eyeball is colored in. The second eyeball is colored in only when the project has reached a successful conclusion.
I've thought of finding or drawing small daruma, one for each of my projects. But I'm not sure if I have the room to line them all up or whether I can stand having all those one-eyed figures staring at me!
Between now and my next column in two weeks, try to focus on and complete one of your projects, because common wisdom is that what matters is not how many things you start, but how many you finish.
Happy tying up those loose ends. See you in two weeks!
"It's About Time," by Ruth Wong, owner of Organization Plus, runs the fourth Friday of each month. Contact her at "It's About Time," care of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or e-mail features@starbulletin.com