How to Stop Procrastinating and Finish Projects

Summary

The speaker encourages tackling overwhelming tasks by focusing on the first step, like reading page one of a book. They discuss the pressure of goals and the value of living in the present. Sharing personal experiences, they highlight the importance of starting projects and the satisfaction of completing them, even if only one in ten. The speaker also addresses the guilt of unfinished projects, suggesting that they can be valuable resources for future needs. They emphasize the personal growth and learning that come from engaging with unfinished work and the idea that projects should be completed when they are needed, not just for the sake of completion.

Takeaways

• 📚 Start reading by focusing only on the first page, ignoring the rest.
• 🌳 Living in the present helps to avoid feeling overwhelmed by future goals.
• 🔍 Sometimes, goals can make tasks feel more difficult.
• 📈 Accept that not all projects will be finished; it's okay to have many unfinished ideas.
• 🎯 Prioritize finishing projects that are valuable or in demand.
• 🗒️ The speaker has many notebooks filled with ideas and unfinished projects.
• 💡 It's beneficial to start and work on many projects, even if they aren't all completed.
• 📅 A project that was started years ago can still be valuable when completed later.
• ✍️ Writing, even if unpublished, helps clarify thoughts and ideas.
• 🔑 Unfinished projects can be valuable for learning and self-improvement.
• 🌟 The value of a project is not solely in its completion but in its utility and demand.

Q & A

What is the advice given for starting to read a large book?

The advice is to start by ignoring all other pages and just focus on reading page one. The action of starting is the same regardless of the book's length.

Why does focusing on the goal of finishing a large book make it harder to start?

Focusing on the goal can make the task feel overwhelming, which is why it's suggested to live in the present and not be preoccupied with the end result.

What is the speaker's approach to handling unfinished projects?

The speaker embraces having many unfinished projects, suggesting that it's okay to have a high number of incomplete ideas, as long as some are completed when needed.

Why does the speaker believe it's beneficial to have multiple unfinished projects?

Having many unfinished projects allows the speaker to be prepared with ideas when the community or a situation requires something, leveraging the strength of being a prolific 'ideator'.

What is the significance of the speaker's statement that 'every finished project was unfinished at some point'?

It emphasizes that the state of a project being unfinished is temporary and that the value of a project is not determined by its current state but by its potential for completion when necessary.

Why does the speaker suggest that it's not necessary to publish writing to gain value from it?

The speaker believes that the act of writing itself clarifies thoughts and provides personal growth, regardless of whether the writing is published or not.

How does the speaker feel about the idea of finishing projects for the sake of finishing them?

The speaker suggests that finishing a project just for the sake of completion without a clear purpose or need is a waste of time.

What is the speaker's perspective on the value of unfinished projects?

The speaker views unfinished projects as valuable for learning about oneself, the process, and the material, and they can be completed when there is a demand or need for them.

Why does the speaker compare unfinished projects to unfinished papers from an English degree?

The comparison is made to illustrate that only projects or papers that need to be finished are completed, and the rest remain unfinished until they are ready or required.

What is the practical advice the speaker gives for dealing with the feeling of having 'finished zero' projects?

The speaker advises to not be hard on oneself for not having finished any projects yet, as everything is unfinished until it is completed, and the potential for completion exists in the future.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Starting with the First Step

The speaker emphasizes the importance of starting any task, no matter how daunting, by focusing on the first step. They use the metaphor of reading a 500-page book, suggesting that one should ignore the rest of the pages and concentrate on page one. The speaker argues that the feeling of being overwhelmed comes from focusing on the end goal rather than the present task. They share their personal experience of having many unfinished projects, which they view as a strength because it means they are always prepared with ideas. The speaker encourages the audience to start projects and finish the ones that are valuable, suggesting that the act of starting is more important than the fear of not finishing.

05:01

📝 The Value of Unfinished Work

The speaker discusses the misconception that unfinished projects are without value. They share their personal journey of writing extensively without publishing, which they later found to be a valuable resource for their thoughts and ideas. The speaker argues that the process of writing, even if not published, clarifies thoughts and contributes to personal growth. They also challenge the idea that one must finish a project for it to have worth, suggesting that projects should be completed when there is a demand or need for them. The speaker encourages the audience to view their unfinished work as a potential asset, ready to be utilized when the right opportunity arises.

Keywords

💡Overwhelming

Overwhelming refers to the feeling of being excessively burdened or unable to deal with a situation due to its size or complexity. In the video, the speaker uses this term to describe the initial reaction to starting a large project, such as reading a 500-page book. The message is to focus on the first step, which is reading page one, rather than being daunted by the entire task.

💡Present

The present moment is emphasized as a way to avoid feeling overwhelmed by future goals. The speaker suggests living in the present to alleviate the stress associated with large, distant objectives. This concept is central to the video's theme of managing the pressure of starting and completing projects.

💡Motivation

Motivation is the drive or desire to do something. The speaker discusses how setting goals can sometimes hinder motivation by creating a sense of pressure. Instead, the speaker encourages focusing on the present and immediate tasks, which can be more motivating and less daunting.

💡Vata

Vata is a term from Ayurveda, referring to one of the three doshas or bodily humors. In the context of the video, the speaker identifies as Vata and uses it to explain their tendency to start many projects without finishing them. This term is used to illustrate the speaker's personal approach to handling multiple projects and the idea that not all projects need to be completed immediately.

💡Ideation

Ideation is the process of forming ideas or concepts. The speaker mentions that they are good at ideation, which is why they have many unfinished projects. This term is used to highlight the creative process and the value of having many ideas, even if they are not all fully realized.

💡Karma

Karma, in the video, is used metaphorically to describe the positive outcomes that can result from working on projects, even if they are not immediately completed. The speaker suggests that the work done on unfinished projects can contribute to future successes, such as when they were asked to write about meditation and could draw upon their past work.

💡Clarification

Clarification in the video refers to the process of making something clear or explicit, often through writing or discussion. The speaker explains that writing, even if it remains unpublished, serves to clarify their thoughts and ideas, which can be valuable in itself, regardless of whether the work is completed or shared.

💡Unfinished Projects

Unfinished Projects are a recurring theme in the video. The speaker discusses the common issue of having many projects that are not completed and challenges the negative connotation associated with them. They argue that unfinished projects can be valuable for personal growth and learning, and may be completed when the right opportunity arises.

💡Value

Value, in the context of the video, refers to the worth or usefulness of something. The speaker argues that even unfinished projects have value, as they contribute to personal development and can be a resource for future work. This challenges the traditional view that only completed projects hold value.

💡Publishing

Publishing is the act of making content available to the public, typically through print or digital media. The speaker discusses the realization that the act of writing itself, rather than the end goal of publishing, can be valuable. This underscores the importance of the creative process over the outcome of completion or publication.

💡Education Rant

Education Rant is a specific section in the speaker's notebook mentioned in the video. It symbolizes the speaker's personal thoughts and ideas on education, which may not have been formally published or completed but still hold value as part of their intellectual journey.

Highlights

Starting a large project can be overwhelming, but the key is to focus on the first page and ignore the rest until you're ready.

The feeling of being overwhelmed often comes from focusing on the end goal rather than the present task.

It's not about the number of pages or projects; it's about taking the first step and starting.

The speaker shares their personal experience of having many unfinished projects, but the value lies in the potential they hold.

Embrace the idea that it's okay to have unfinished projects; they can be a source of creativity and innovation.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of finishing projects that are valuable and have a purpose.

Having a backlog of unfinished projects can be beneficial as they may be completed when needed for a specific purpose.

The speaker discusses the idea that not all projects need to be finished for the sake of completion; they should have a clear purpose.

The realization that writing provides value even if it's not published, as it clarifies thoughts and ideas.

The speaker shares their own journey of writing extensively without immediate publication, which later became valuable.

The importance of not beating oneself up for unfinished projects, as they can be completed at any time in the future.

The concept that everything is unfinished until it's finished, and the pressure to complete should come from necessity, not just for the sake of it.

The speaker's experience of having an unfinished project for 16 years that eventually became a valuable resource.

The idea that unfinished projects can teach us about ourselves, the process, and the material, making them valuable in their own right.

The speaker's suggestion that one should not feel pressured to finish projects just for the sake of finishing them.

The practical approach to only finish projects that are needed or have a clear demand, which adds value to the completion.

The speaker's collection of notebooks as a testament to their creative process and the potential within their unfinished ideas.

Transcripts

okay so how do i start reading page one

of a 500 page book it's overwhelming

you're right so the way that you start

reading page one

is by ignoring pages two through five

hundred whether it's a 500

page book or a two-page book you gotta

read page one

doesn't matter 500 pages 200 pages

thousand pages

like you can't read it doesn't matter

the action is the same

the overwhelming part comes from the

goal

this is why we're telling you all live

in the present

because as long as you're living in the

future as long as you're thinking about

your goal like when we talk about

motivation

i don't talk about goals why do you guys

think i don't talk about goals

goals make things harder sometimes okay

here's another one but what if it feels

bad if i leave 10 projects unfinished

then it feels bad okay so let me explain

something to you guys

this is my notebook just one

there are lots of ideas in here okay

this is vata so there's a lot of stuff

in here this is filled with random crap

this one is let me just make sure it's

okay this is a random to-do list

okay and on the next page here's my

education rant

so i this is something i want y'all to

understand so as being a vata

nine out of my ten projects are

unfinished so what

it's all good one out of ten is finished

seems to be working so far let's focus

on finishing the good ones this is where

people say but what about

these other nine and it's like where do

y'all think all this crap comes from

so i had like like i've had so many

projects that are half complete

and when the community needs something

i'm like halfway done it's great

i have all these projects and they're

halfway done

and i don't finish them until someone

shows up

and is like hey can you do this thing

and that's like you know what

actually i can it's like like we earlier

today we're

joking about you know group coaching for

authors who haven't finished books

but there are there are notes in that

about my notebook

about the creative like burden right

like we have notes like if we wanted to

do that we could

so this is the strength of avata it's

like you have nine out of ten projects

that are incomplete sure great fine

complete one

and then be prepared for the other nine

because they could come in handy it's

crazy ideate that's what vatas are good

at

and the other thing is if it feels bad

it feels bad like that's okay

like does it feel okay to finish one

instead of zero

you still feel good about that yeah so

just

start projects i'd say finish some of

them you know

but like garbage will help you with that

karma helped me a ton that was the big

thing is like now it's like

we've got stuff going on

okay so you guys you guys think you can

outdo dr k

how about if you finish zero so

i'm trying to figure out how to say this

every finished

project that i have completed

was unfinished at some point

right you guys get that i know it sounds

kind of weird

but like if you finished zero you just

haven't finished them yet

right like you just haven't finished it

yet

so like so what so i'll

i'll explain something so like the the

dr k's guide to meditation

i started writing in 2005.

i started writing in 2005 and it was

unfinished

for 16 years

and now it is done

so like was that bad that it was

unfinished in the decade in hindsight

absolutely not

i am so glad that i worked on that crap

for a decade

and then left it in a drawer because

when someone

sits down and and asks me in four weeks

to write two two or three feature length

films about meditation

that ends up being 65 000 words it's

ready

so for this something else to just to

share about myself

i started writing all kinds of random

crap at the age of 21 that never turned

into anything for like over a decade

and now like now it's like i'm just

finishing one thing at a time

so i know it sounds weird but how about

if you finish zero

if you haven't finished zero you don't

know if you've finished zero

you could finish half of them you just

don't know yet

so thus far you've finished zero so what

you could finish it tomorrow you could

finish it a year from now you could

finish it five years from now you never

know

right it's weird so be careful because

when your mind tells you you've finished

zero well like obviously like everything

is unfinished

until it's finished and then you beat

yourself up for not having finished any

projects it's like

that doesn't you could finish it later

everything is unfinished until it's

finished it sounds so stupid

and simple right and then like the other

big thing that that people seem to the

other big realization i had is that

you don't need to publish to get value

out of writing that was another huge

revelation that i had i wrote all this

stuff and i thought

oh my god this is unpublished like i

never turned it into anything but like

where do you guys think these answers

are coming from like when i

answer a question like where do you

think it's coming from it's coming from

my head how'd it get into my head it got

into my head by writing

so writing for me is the clarification

of my thoughts which then are like

accessible so like people talk about

unfinished projects and they value

unfinished projects over finished

projects but in my experience

there's so much to be gained from

unfinished projects

you learn so much you learn about

yourself you learn about the process you

learn about the material

and if something comes along that

demands that it be finished it will be

finished

because the other thing i want you all

to think about is when you have an

unfinished project

like it's just you finishing it for the

sake of finishing it that's a waste of

your time

it needs to be finished when someone

needs it for something

now if you're not finishing things that

people are depending on that are

important that's a different story

but i would venture that for most people

their unfinished projects

are like existing in a vacuum and you're

just placing this arbitrary label on

finishing it

for the sake of finishing it because

that's better than not finishing it

even though it may not have value in the

world you know why don't you have

unfinished papers when you graduate with

an english degree

it's because you finished all the papers

that needed to be finished

and all the half written poetry crap

that you didn't finish isn't ready to be

finished yet

okay change my mind don't coach george

how many notebooks do you have good go

you see that pile over there

that's my notebooks just in this

iteration that's

maybe 20 to 25 of them