Episode 103: Just FINISH the thing!

00:51 Welcome to Unfrazzle, a podcast for solo business owners with a big vision who are ready for a kinder more sustainable approach to productivity. I'm Louise Miller and each week i share bite-sized insights to help you step away from the hustle stop faffing and stay focused so you can make your brilliant ideas happen and make a bigger impact in the world Before we dive into today's episode, if you enjoy what I'm sharing here on Unfrazzle and you'd like to support the podcast. You can buy me a cuppa by going to BuyMeACoffee.com slash Louise Miller and making a one-off donation. I'll pop a link to that in the show notes. Okay grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started! I don't know about you but i love a jigsaw not the power tool...the puzzle so every time i sit down to do a jigsaw it occurs to me

01:39 That doing a jigsaw is like being a business owner. And yes, I know that's cheesy but please bear with me! Right, unless you're some sort of psychopath when you're doing a jigsaw you start with the edges first right there's some sort of order to it. You know what you're looking for as you're sorting through all the pieces in the box you find the straight bits and then off you go! So you start with what's easy much like in our work when we're embarking on a project or starting something new we do tend to gravitate towards the easy bits first and there is nothing wrong with that It's what gets us out of the starting block so we can start to see some progress and feel like we're getting somewhere

02:15 But then what do you do once you've got all of the edges done? So I tend to hone in on one part of the puzzle, look for all of the pieces that look like they belong in that section take those pieces out the box and then start fitting them together. And yet of course that is slower than doing the edges. But by filtering out all of the pieces that are obviously not part of the picture I'm working on, leaving those pieces in a box, I can still feel like i am getting somewhere! Now you might do things differently maybe start taking pieces out of the box and grouping them together by colour so that you can start to complete different parts of the puzzle all at once. Neither approach is right or wrong

02:52 You know, I'm not here to tell you the correct way to do a jigsaw. There is no such thing! At the end of the day we're both making progress and the picture is starting to come together and yes I might be able to see the progress I'm making more easily because I'm really laser focused and honed in on one area but if you need the variety of working on a few different areas at once... If that's your jam that works for you go for it But whichever approach you choose when you're doing your jigsaw, there is usually an area that gets left to the end because it is hellish. So maybe it's that big expanse of sky or there's a huge area of just white! What do you do then? Do you persevere? Or when you've done all the easy bits and it starts to suddenly feel difficult and progress really slows down –it takes longer to find a piece that goes in the right place–do you get up and wander off

03:45 So if you put off doing the difficult bits and get distracted by something else, that unfinished jigsaw can sit on the dining table for ages can't it? I'm sure that can't just be me. It sits there unfinished taking up space and getting on your nerves every time you look at it! Do you have something like that in your business where you feel all excited to start with but then find your attention starting to wane once things get tricky or you're outside your comfort zone or another shiny idea strikes Instead of wandering off to do something else, what would happen if you allowed yourself to sit in the discomfort? To dedicate yourself to finishing the thing you started even if it feels tricky. After all greatness and lightness, fulfillment freedom and impact... All those things lie on the other side of you finishing the thing you've already invested so much time and energy in

04:35 So what's the equivalent of an unfinished jigsaw in your world right now? What is sitting there, unfinished staring at you and really getting on your nerves and making you feel bad. And what small step can you take this week to move you closer to getting it done so as always I hope that this helps and i look forward to seeing you again soon Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who needs a dose of calm productivity in their life and I'd love it if you could leave me a rating and review as that will help more people discover this podcast. If you would like to hear more from me to help stop faffing and take back control of your time, you'll find the link to join my mailing list in the show notes and I would really love for you to join us! So thanks so much for your support and I look forward to seeing you next time