Done! Now how do I clean up?
A lot of people find that they run out of steam once the fun and/or challenging part of a project is complete. But if we don’t do those final steps of finishing off and cleaning up, it can make our lives more difficult. It’s harder to get started on the next thing when your workspace is full of stuff you’re not interested in any more. And the bits you don’t quite finish off can cause the whole project to unravel.
Here are 6 tips to make these last steps easier.
1. A hot mess is better than a cold mess
Get to the finishing and clean up sooner rather than later. Things are still somewhat visible to your brain at this point. However, if you leave it for a month, you may have completely forgotten why things mattered, where they go, or what the final steps to finish the project actually are. I’m capable of forgetting that boring stuff overnight. Engage that mess while it’s still hot!
2. Work out a regular finishing and clean up process
Finishing up a project (or even just your work day) is something you do often, so you could create a repeatable process to guide and motivate you. It could be a written checklist, or as simple as a ‘base state’ that you get back to (such as a clear table and computer desktop). You might include things like filing, removing from your workspace what isn’t needed, making notes that will be useful for you later…whatever serves you.
3. Separate out the unknowns
At the end of a project, there are usually a lot of simple small steps that you can easily do, and a few things you haven’t quite decided what to do with yet. If you put the unknown elements out of the process to be dealt with later, you can get on with doing the stuff that is easy enough to do. You can make a list of what remains to be solved, or a pile of things that need to be sorted later. It helps to put these unknowns in a place that they remain visible, or you might mysteriously discover them in 6 months at the back of the cupboard.
4. Make an action list
Anything that needs to happen in the future can be recorded on an action list. Pop any reminders or notes into your diary system too. Then you can relax and know you won’t forget it later. This is where the notes that you left yourself earlier (if you were paying attention to tip 2) will be handy.
5. Your finish and clean-up are still part of the project
This is clearly the truth, but sometimes we don’t think of it like this. From the start, see these last steps as an important aspect. It can help to visualise them - if you can run a movie in your head, show the final stages of the project and then the finishing up process linked in. Use the emotional momentum of the task to lend interest to the clean up stages.
(Bonus tip: Leave the part of the project that will give you a sense of ‘task completion’ until after you’ve done the boring stuff you’d otherwise avoid. Maybe I should call this a bonus trick? Sometimes you have to get cunning with yourself…)
6. Celebrate
When you are finished the clean-up and final steps, celebrate the whole project. This helps you keep enthusiastic till the very end. You can celebrate effort as well as achievement. You can celebrate getting through the day!
Sometimes people act like celebration is in limited supply. I can assure you, from my extensive analysis of humanity, celebrating more makes you more optimistic and motivated (rather than lazy and morally weak, as some people seem to fear). Celebrating can be as simple as telling yourself: “Good work! You did it.”
Finishing up, cleaning up, and celebrating will help your subconscious mind to FEEL like your project or work day is done. This amazing feeling is a gift you can give yourself!
(If accountability works for you, you may find that a coaching session with me will help you to actually get the final steps and clean up done, without stress.)