How to Declutter Unfinished Business : We all have these projects (big or small) that we once started with great enthusiasm, and worked on it up to a certain point. Then we came to a roadblock, maybe we didn’t know how to continue, maybe we needed help from someone else, or we needed to research something, or life demanded our attention some place else.
As a result, we lost momentum on the project, soon it got pushed away into a corner, next thing we know we put it in a box, the box gets pushed around and is in our way so we bury it in a closet, the basement or take it out to the garage…
Out of sight, out of mind, that’s how the saying goes…
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But that’s not true!
It might be out of your visual sight, you might even have pushed it out of your conscious mind but your unconscious still knows. Deep down you do have an account of all the unfinished projects that are lingering around in your life and business.
They are weighing on you. You might not be consciously aware of it because you are so used to this energetic weight, until you start taking care of unfinished business one by one and all of a sudden you feel how a weight is being lifted off your shoulders and you free up and regain so much energy
It’s also very hard to move forward with clarity, inspiration and to start something fresh when you have loose ends lingering around.
Unfinished business does hold us back, it’s like a mental tug of war that zaps the energy out of you. It’s exhausting.
Taking care of unfinished business
Taking care of unfinished business frees us up and sets the stage for success. Here is how you can tackle it in a few minutes a day.
Step 1: Declutter your brain and mind
Get a piece of paper, your to-do app or a journal and start a list of all the unfinished projects that come to you mind, big or small, just list them all.
Step 2: Ask yourself for each entry of that list: does this still matter to me?
If not, give yourself permission to not finish this project and to let it go. A lot of people have a problem with that, they feel they need to finish what they started.
I too grew up with my parents and grandparents saying “who says A has to say B” meaning, if you start a thing you have to finish it. No.matter.what!
I find this is not good advice.
Now I am not talking about situations where we promised to somebody that we would do something. Whenever possible we need to keep our promises and do the thing in the time frame promised.
What I am talking about is hobbies, activities, interests etc that we once wanted to do for ourselves, that we started but now you lost interest in it. There is no reason to stick with it.
If you disagree, who is it in your ear that tells you, you have to finish it?
Is it because you spent time, energy and money on it in the past that you now feel if you don’t finish it that time, energy and money is wasted?
I believe as long as you enjoyed yourself back then but now you have moved on and don’t want to do this activity anymore, it wasn’t and isn’t wasted time and money – since you enjoyed yourself.
But it would be a waste of time, energy, and money to finish it now just to say I’ve finished, out of obligation, or because of a belief you have.
Ask yourself, to whom do you have an obligation? Is it really true that you have an obligation? If yes, then leave it on the list and plan to finish it, if not, let it go and move on with your life.
Step 3:
After step 1 and 2 we have now a pruned list of unfinished business that we need to tackle. Go through the list again and put an estimate of time next to each task or project. How long do you think it would take to finish it? How much time do you estimate it will take? Don’t get hung up on this, just put your best guess down on paper.
Step 4:
Based on this updated list choose a task or project to work on that is a low-hanging fruit meaning it doesn’t take a lot of time (daunting) and you know you can easily handle it.
Allow yourself to work on this list in small manageable time chunks like 15-20 minutes a day until done. Keep it up, be consistent, this creates momentum and since you start with the smallest task you very quickly have something to celebrate and cross off the list.
Rinse and repeat.
Step 5:
Eventually you will come to bigger tasks and projects, some of them might be big rocks in your life or business that are way past time that you deal with them and they are weighing heavy on you.
But the good news is, now you’ve already trained your decluttering muscles somewhat and you have momentum, so keep going.
It goes without saying that you need to split these bigger unfinished projects into smaller tasks. Break them into manageable chunks so that you can tackle them one by one, day by day, just like you did the tasks in step 4.
Slow Progress Is Better Than No Progress
Repeating this process and working through your entire list like this might seem like slow, daunting progress in your eyes. But think about it, it is actually progress, slow or not.
It’s better than not doing anything and leaving all that unfinished business weighing on you for one day in the future when you think you’ll have more time (which is an illusion), or until you think you’ll feel motivated (another illusion). This doesn’t get you anywhere, this is no progress.
Also, cleaning up loose ends will give you more freedom and peace of mind. In addition, these steps will help you build the muscle of personal integrity (an important kind of self-care and self-love).
As a clutter clearing coach and practitioner I’ll never tell you to get rid of anything, not even your unfinished business. What I do want to help you see is the effect all this (physical, mental & emotional) clutter has on you, your life and your business. Don’t just read this blog, start letting go of your unfinished business or tackle it in a few minutes a day.
CONNY GRAF
Conny Graf is a Swiss certified Expert in Finance & Accounting, a certified Clutter Clearing Practitioner, Astrologer, Coach, Podcaster and the founder and owner of From Chaos to Peace Consulting Inc.
She’s helping people create supportive, clutter-free environments in their home, office, files, and finances but more importantly, she helps them develop habits and systems that prevent clutter from creeping back in. Clutter Clearing is not just about purging and organizing, it’s about exploring and releasing the limiting beliefs we tell ourselves and the stories that keep us stuck in the past. Dealing with clutter brings us up-to-date with who we are right now and where we are heading in your life and business while being organized is simply a side-effect.
Her mission is to help people understand that decluttering is self-love, and a few minutes a day keep the clutter away. Come on a journey from chaos to peace with ease.
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