The Last 10 Percent: How to Implement a Project As You Near the Finish Line
Remember the excitement you felt when you started your last project headlong? All doors were open and the possibilities were endless. But then, if you are like most people, you start stumbling around the finish line. And all that momentum and drive that brought you to this place seems to just disappear.
This post originally appeared on the Crew blog .
Many of us are 90% stuck. We push so hard on the idea of actually finishing something and saying “it’s done” that we emphasize and look for excuses to postpone this moment.
We fall into the trap of asking what people think of us? What happens if we get to 100% and lose? What if we finish the project and don’t immediately float in money like Scrooge McDuck?
These are the types of thoughts that rage in our minds as we try to push through the last 10%.
But we cannot bring everything to pressure. Hitting a wall by 90% has a lot to do with reducing our attention span. We live in a completely scattered society, so how can we expect our work to be completed?
Jim Rohn has a great quote:
“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day.”
For me, as a serial project finisher, this is instrumental thinking over the years.
Too often we want to focus on a big task, a big project goal, the end result of the work. This could be writing a book, launching a new website, creating an application, etc.
This item should be put on a completely separate list called “Great great things I want to do!” Write this list. Now put this list somewhere you won’t see it every day, it’s time to do a couple of things that will really help you complete your work / projects / etc.
Start with lots of small to-do lists
What we are working on (maybe!) Is not rocket science, but you better believe we can learn a thing or two from rocket scientists.
A rocket scientist can’t just build a rocket, he has to start by creating each component. There are tanks, nozzles, pumps, housings, chambers, nozzles and many other parts that require individual attention and refinement. The sum of the completion of all these parts results in a rocket. And yes, I had to google how to build a rocket.
But the same should apply to everything you work on. Don’t focus on any large objects. Focus on much smaller items that you can do one by one. It is helpful to make individual to-do lists for specific parts of a project. The smaller and more mundane the items on your lists, the easier it is to cross them out.
I used to struggle with to-do lists. But once I tried a few different things, I found a method that worked for me.
Instead of a pretty app, I use good old pen and paper. Every day I write out the tasks for that day and break them down into the smallest tasks. Throughout the day, I look back at my to-do list and mark things off as I complete them (it’s amazing how powerful crossing out a to-do list with a bullet point can be).
The next day, when I sit down to write down my affairs, I rewrite them if I have leftovers from the previous day. Rewriting has become my least favorite part of the day.
Avoiding rewriting my daily chores helped me focus on completing all my tasks each day to avoid the rewriting process. I finally got rid of the habit of rescheduling tasks every day, and it only took about 30 days.
When all of your little to-do lists are in place, you should have a fully functioning rocket! Or a blog. Or a web app. What are you working on.
The pace of the project is incredibly important
Let’s face it, we’re essentially animals. We have survival instincts. When we start working on something, it is difficult for us to stop. It’s just our nature. I imagine some part of our brain saying, “Do this before the saber-toothed tiger eats us!”
But we no longer live in survival mode. You must resist your instinctive urges and tune yourself up when you try to work on (and complete) a project.
We’ve all been there: deadline approaching. Too much work. Sleepless nights and heavy caffeine use help us reach a mediocre finish line. As a result, we end up with a job that we are not proud of because we did not take enough time for ourselves to get it right.
This is not how you need to work if you plan to set yourself the pace.
In 2014, I had a tough deadline for the release of my book (my birthday, May 15th). But out of nowhere there were typographical difficulties and some really ridiculous obstacles to working with Amazon.com as a publishing author.
As May 15 got closer and closer, I realized that this simply would not happen. I was angry for about a day when I realized something: the deadline for my book to be released on my birthday was a deadline that I came up with, and which, in the grand scheme of life, could be easily postponed.
I remember sending an email to my list informing them that the release date should be changed and I was met with tremendous support. More often than not, if you’re honest with yourself and your audience, changing the deadline isn’t such a big deal. (Of course, the ability to move dates also depends on your calling.)
You don’t have to do everything on the first day, and you certainly shouldn’t try to do everything on the last day of your project. Plan your project and be disciplined in your (small) day-to-day work.
Breaks are necessary
When avoiding walking, you must remember to take breaks. If you’ve ever felt like your brain is burned out and you just can’t work anymore, it’s because you’re overworked.
I have personally found that forcing myself to take many breaks throughout the day is critical to being effective and without feeling like my brain is turning into a pile of useless gruel. These breaks are not breakfast, lunch and dinner. These breaks are times during the day when you usually work, but when you force yourself to take 10-30 minutes to get away.
Personally, I think nature provides the best brain training. I leave all technology behind and go for a walk or hike. I take time to enjoy my surroundings and take a deep breath. For some, it might be meditation. As for me, I see it as a release of tension and stress into the world.
There is one small caveat in my daily routine when I say that “I’m leaving all technology behind.” I bought a strap activity Garmin Vivosmart sole purpose – is a function of the alarm when it is idle. This little device I wear measures how active I am and alerts me if I sit for more than 40 minutes. Wearing this for almost a year taught me to get up and move before the 40 minute idle signal went off. And when do I need to focus for a longer period of time? I just take it off and leave it on the table.
Just as you want to form a habit of creating and completing your daily to-do list, take time for breaks that will energize you.
Remember the last ten percent usually need help
Whether you work in a corporate office, a small independent store, or a proud entrepreneur (like me), a little help can usually give you the little nudge you need to get to the finish line.
This can be done in several ways:
- Build a circle of trust that keeps you informed
- Post the deadline with your friends or on social media and ask friends, followers and family for their support and encouragement.
- Use a tool like Followup.cc or Boomerang and write yourself future support emails.
The first two are self-explanatory. The latter is a little trick that works wonders.
Take time to write yourself an email that encourages you to “keep going!” and schedule this email to arrive a week or two before the deadline. If you want to get serious, write some emails and schedule them to arrive in your inbox 1 month, 3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week, 3 days, 1 day before your project deadline.
Your own words of encouragement can give you an extra boost. Plus, you’ll probably forget about them if you write emails ahead of time, which is a funny surprise.
When the finish is near
When that finish line is in plain sight, whatever doubts you’ve thrown away tend to come back. It takes a little hardness. It takes a little courage. You need to dig deep and overcome moments of desire to quit.
Reminding yourself why you are doing the work you are doing can help you get to the finish line. Most importantly, you will never hit the last 10% if you are working on projects you don’t want to work on.
It comes with experience. I have at least 30 projects under my belt, and the ones I fought the most on were the ones I should have given up on .
Ask yourself: am I not completing this project because I need more discipline, or because I no longer want to work on it?
If you answered that this is a discipline, read this article again. If your answer was because you don’t want to work on it, now is a great time to take a break and think about what you want to do next.