The Finish It in February Challenge

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

by Susan McCarthy
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If you’re like probably every other individual on Earth, you’ve started working on a project that for some reason or another you ended up setting aside. Maybe you lost interest. Maybe it proved more difficult for your skills at the time. Maybe your schedule changed, and you didn’t have the time to devote to the project.

Whatever the situation, chances are you thought, “I’ll get back to this later.” But later never comes. Until now. Let’s start a new tradition called “The Finish It in February Challenge” and it’s your opportunity to get one or more tasks of your choice off your to-do list.

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The Inspiration to Finish

My husband builds models (cars, ships, tanks, trucks, planes) and he shares videos of his builds on YouTube. He also watches a lot of videos of other guy’s builds and I’ve come to recognize several voices. Two or three months back I was half-listening to one guy whose voice I recognized when he started talking about putting a model back in the box, unfinished, and then he proceeded to talk about the next kit he was going to build.

I started peppering my husband with questions. “Why didn’t he finish? Why would he start a new project if he could use the same time to finish the one that he was working on?” and so on. I was more incredulous when Mac told me that this guy sets aside model kits all the time. He estimated the guy had at least eight (if not more) unfinished kits that he’d put back in the box and set on his shelf.

I’m a crafter (mostly I crochet and make handmade cards) and I dislike having numerous partly finished projects laying around. Usually, the only thing that will make me stop working on one project and pick up another is if I get a time-sensitive request. And then I find it difficult to get back into to project I was working on (which is why I’ve learned to discourage myself from bouncing from one project to another).

And while I don’t have (much of) an issue with craft projects, I do start a lot of projects that get set aside. For example, I’ve started writing articles and guides and books for A Less Cluttered Life and I’ll put in a lot of effort…until the next idea captures my attention and I head off in that direction.

So, while my husband was talking about the guys in the model building community who’d put out videos about the kits they were setting aside, I blurted out, “You should host a ‘Finish It Up February’ group build.”

(Group builds usually involved someone hosting a themed build – a particular type of car, any type of large truck, a certain brand of kit – during a set time. Individuals would post progress videos of what they’d built during the week [or month.])

In mid-January, my husband (and another builder who had serendipitously had the same idea) posted a video to the community announcing, “Finish It Up February.” And he’s had over forty guys announce they’d join the build by showing the numerous kits they’d started but hadn’t finished for a variety of reasons. (Some of them are so inspired by the idea of finishing these kits, they’ve already started to work on completing models!)
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​The Finish It in February Challenge

It finally occurred to me that this idea could go beyond model builders on YouTube. As in, “hey, don’t I encourage people to declutter? And wouldn’t finishing a project declutter it from one’s to-do list (and maybe even clear some excess stuff associated with the project)?”

This isn’t about starting and finishing a project in the span of 28-days. It isn’t even about finishing the project that you are currently working on. (Although don’t get yourself off track with this challenge if you’re already focused on something!)

This challenge is about looking around for projects that you’ve started in the past and then stopped working on for whatever reason. This can be a craft project, a decluttering project, something you started writing, a home renovation project (you bought the paint for a room but then never painted the walls…or you bought shelves you’ve never built), really anything that you’ve started but didn’t finish.

Throughout the month of February, you can work at finishing a single project or numerous projects. It all depends on what work you need to do to call something finished and how much time you require to complete on this project.
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And that’s it.

What to Avoid During "Finish It in February"

By saying “projects” I’m referring to any series of tasks that have a defined end. So, this doesn’t include trying to establish habits, which are ongoing Forever Goals.

Skip the unrealistic expectations, such as, “I’ll finish decluttering my entire house in February.” Or “I’ll finally sort through the 50 years of family photos that I’ve been telling myself that I’d finish for ages.” Your definition of “unrealistic expectations” can be different from someone else’s but chances are you know when you’re unlikely to reach your goal.

Just because you’ve been thinking about doing something doesn’t mean you’ve already started.
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If you encounter projects that you no longer want to do, let go of both the expectation that you must do it as well as the stuff you own that would complete it. Yes, determining that you don’t want to work on something finishes it! Don’t drive yourself crazy telling yourself that you must finish something just because you started it.

​How to Decide Which Project to Work on

Start off by making a list of the unfinished project you have. You may want to walk around your home with paper and pen if you need to prompt your memory. Remember, look for project that you’ve already started but aren’t currently working on. You may also refer to these disrupted plans as “nagging tasks.” (If, like me, you have a lot of projects started on your computer then you may want to look at your digital files and folders.)

You may want to limit your list to ten items, so you don’t feel overwhelmed. (Don’t worry, you won’t have to finish all these tasks.)

If a project jumps out at you, demanding to be done, then go with that one. If you can’t decide, I suggest working on the project that requires the least effort to finish.

Remember, if you finish a project, you can move onto another project.

Why You’ll Want to Do This

Finishing projects (even small ones) gives you a sense of accomplishment and maybe even fulfillment (particularly if the tasks help you work toward a greater goal that you have for your life). Use this challenge as an opportunity to complete those nagging tasks that have been sitting on a mental or physical to-do list for a while. You know what they are.

Chances are these incomplete tasks escape your thoughts every so often but then they come back with a vengeance when you encounter the task in a folder on your computer or in a pile in the corner of a room.  Sometimes I think that unfinished projects are more demoralizing than the projects you never start. You get frustrated that you’ve already devoted so much energy to a task and you can’t call it finished.

Remember, realizing that you’re “done” with a project (even if you haven’t finished it) is just as important as completing the actions associated with it. You don’t have to finish a plan if it no longer makes sense to do so.

Finishing a task, or acknowledging that you neither want nor need to complete it, helps create space for the people, actions, and experiences that are important to you.

I’ll be talking about the projects I’m finishing in February on the private Facebook group for A Less Cluttered Life called Less Clutter, More Life. Feel free to join and share your progress as well!
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Get my free guide, Live a Less Cluttered Life, and start clearing clutter and distractions from your life, today.
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