If you’re like me, you’ve got a lot of unfinished projects lying around, and not because of loss of interest or an unwillingness to complete them, but because other things get in the way and thus the projects get pushed to the side. I have a lot of crochet projects I started and never finished. I’m currently working on the second draft of my first novel, but I’m way behind where I’d like to be in the process. I need to go through old stuffed animals and books and get rid of some, but haven’t.
However, school comes first, and I’ve been in classes basically nonstop since fall 2019, and there’s always a paper, or reading, or some kind of project to be working on as a full time student. So a big reason I haven’t completed or even started a lot of things is that I’ve lost motivation and steam, not because I don’t want to do the other projects.
Deadlines are great, but sometimes they can actually make things worse—like making you less likely to get something done—since they are self-imposed deadlines and they may just increase anxiety over the project. In that case, if you have set a deadline, give yourself some wiggle room. Give a general time frame instead of a definite date, and adjust the deadline if you have to. These methods really relieve stress and anxiety from my experience.
Realize that maybe you can’t get everything done in one day, and that’s absolutely fine. Taking time out for yourself is very important, and you don’t want to overload yourself. I often can’t do much else on days when I have classes because I get exhausted, so anything I don’t have to do gets postponed to a day when I don’t have class.
Just remember to be forgiving with yourself. Stressing out and beating yourself up because you aren’t finishing things can actually greatly decrease motivation. Sometimes things can’t wait to be done, but, if it can, don’t panic, and try different things to try to find that motivation again.