What have you finished today?

What will you finish this week? This month? This year?

What are you waiting for?

Look around your office. How many projects are on your desk at present? Which ones have taken up permanent occupancy? I consider my desk to be a high rent district. Squatters aren’t welcome. If it stays, it pays.

After coaching from colleague John Tenza I now awake each morning and ask myself: “What am I going to finish today?”

There’s great satisfaction in completing projects, of shipping orders, of finishing manuscripts and closing deals. Conversely there’s negative energy that surrounds projects with no end in sight, ones that just seem to hang on. Liberate yourself from these energy drainers. Commit to complete!

Just as the best time to make a sales call is right after you’ve just made a sale, so too will you feel fantastic about existing projects when you complete one of them today.

Become a Master of Time and Space

According to Tenza, a multidimensional sales trainer, “clutter is a killer. When you put things in their rightful place, toss or give away items, you clear your mind as well as your desk and office.” The key is to get into action. You must decide to do it!

Completions Not Just for Quarterbacks and Receivers

Strive for completions. Coach Tenza knows: “completions give you freedom from that gnawing stress that something needs to be done. Each time you complete an existing project you create new space and new energy for yourself.” John and I concur: your brain and body will thank you or the successes you will realize through completions.

On Becoming A Terminator

Here are some tips to complete more projects.

• Calendar time for projects and their completion.
• Go public with dates for completion of milestones.
• Defer gratification; link your own rewards to completion dates.
• Stagger projects to make regular progress on short, medium and long-term projects weekly.
• When you get stuck, get help; ask for second opinions, reviews or assistance to avoid losing momentum.
• Track your progress with flow or pert charts, calendars or other schemes that allow you to visualize your success.
• For difficult tasks within projects, break them down further into more manageable parts.
• When feeling stuck, change your body chemistry. Exercise and you will energize yourself and have renewed vigor for completing projects.

There are many ways to reach the “end” zone — incremental progress or leaps and bounds. Look anew at your desk, your to-do list and your yearly goals and build your completions.

Congratulations…you’ve finished this article. What else will you finish today?

About the Author: San Francisco Bay Area-based Professional speaker Craig Harrison’s Expressions of Excellence!™ provides sales and service solutions through speaking. For information on keynotes, training, coaching, curriculum for licensing and more, call (510) 547-0664, visit www.ExpressionsOfExcellence.com or E-mail Craig@ExpressionsOfExcellence.com for inquiries.