Overwhelmed with unfinished projects? Here’s seven tips to get you on course

Clayton J. Hester
3 min readFeb 28, 2022
Photo by Pickawood on Unsplash

How do you go about fixing the problem of leaving too many projects unfinished?

The input I’m hearing is that it’s important to focus on one project at a time.

This is difficult, as you already know the world is teeming with inspiration.

There’s always another project waiting.

One of the ideas I’ve mentioned before is “DaVinci Syndrome,” which I first encountered from Peter Burke’s book “The Polymath: A Cultural History.”

“DaVinci Syndrome” is the condition in which one’s ideation outpaces their implementation.

In other words, it’s when you’re carried from unfinished project to unfinished project.

That’s a shame. And if that sounds like your situation, here are some ideas about how to rearrange your process to be more productive.

Give yourself the right to say no

This is a tough one. Because when a good idea seizes us, how do we refuse it?

Maybe instead of saying no, we just let yourself say, “Not now.”

Focus on the number one thing

This tip I can credit to the The ONE Thing Podcast. Geoff Woods encourages folks to prioritize the one thing each day that would move them along in reaching their goals. Ask yourself: what can I do today that would make the next step easier? Break down your goals into a step-by-step plan and use it to pursue your goals.

Combine ideas in order to strengthen ideas

Sometimes it’s best to merge different projects to make them stronger.

I may be working on a series of blog posts exploring the theme of “failure.” However, I can also turn to my notes from other articles and see what would make sense in this context. Maybe there’s content from another article I could add here. Or maybe I can combine two different thoughts into one larger idea.

Plan out your day

This one aligns with the step-by-step plan. The key is knowing the answer to the question, “what will I accomplish today?” So when you’re starting your day, writing your to-do list is a great way to focus in on the…

Clayton J. Hester

Country boy. Explorer of the creative process & life, the arts, storytelling, innovation and history of ideas. Omnia in gloriam Dei facite — claytonjhester.com