The Job Is Not Finished Until You Do y
A handy formula for finishing what you started
Last week, southeast Louisiana experienced its most spring-like weather since last year, with loads of bright sunshine, blue skies, and daytime highs in the 60s and 70s. It was the kind of weather that gets you thinking about gardening, enjoying meals outside, riding bikes, and even tackling a few spring cleaning chores.
In the spirit of renewal, there is a mindset approach regarding work that I am practicing lately, especially when it comes to tasks that are, shall you say, less than enjoyable.
Consider this: The job is not finished until you do 'y'.
This mantra can transform how you approach necessary, yet often procrastinated, parts of your tasks—like folding the sheets when doing the laundry, blowing or sweeping the sidewalk after you mow the lawn, or cleaning the kitchen after cooking.
Or you can use it to remember things, like maybe something that your wife asked you do after borrowing her car in the morning to go to the gym. The job is not finished until you reset the position of the driver’s seat and turn on the driver’s seat heater.
(That is a very specific example that I just entirely made up and has no basis in reality1. )
The point is, you can apply the formula x + y = z, where x represents the parts of the job you are eager to do, y the parts you would rather not, and z completing the job. Take laundry as an example: The acts of washing and drying clothes are often overshadowed by the looming task of folding and putting everything away. Yet, it is this final step that truly completes the cycle, turning a pile of clean clothes into an organized wardrobe ready for the week ahead.
The job is not finished until you fold that pesky fitted sheet and put it away.
This concept is not exclusive to dirty clothes or other household chores. It extends to fitness, where the cool down and stretching often are as crucial as the workout itself; to relationships, where being kind, practicing good communication, and following through on promises strengthens bonds; and to your profession, where finishing, say, a parcel map project requires learning new skills and using new tools.
There is a caveat that you need to be prepared for when deploying this mantra: Those undesirable tasks are sometimes undesirable because they are much more involved than the rest of the project.
Be prepared: When you have 90% of a large project completed finishing the final details will take another 90%. Houses and films are famous for having two 90%s.
This insight sheds light on the psychological hurdle of concluding tasks with the same energy and enthusiasm with which you started them. Sometimes you are going to need more energy to accomplish the final 10 percent of a job, but the good news is you already created a ton of momentum. It is much easier at that point to keep going than it was to get started.
Every job has its less desirable tasks, but acknowledging and embracing them as integral to the whole can significantly enhance your sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Whether it's the near completion of that parcel map project, where meticulous attention to the final details ensures better foundational data for the future, or the simple joy of baking, where cleaning up afterward amplifies the pleasure of the treats you created, embracing the final 10 percent is where true completion lies.
Spring forward by challenging yourself to not only start tasks with enthusiasm but to finish them with a sense of completeness, knowing that in the grand equation of x + y = z, it's the 'y' that often makes the difference between a job kind of done and a job well done.
It has a basis in reality.