Most people are in the habit of massively over-estimating how much they can realistically accomplish.

In the span of a single editing session, our average client will attempt to task themselves with a list that includes things like taking a pair of shoes in to be re-soled, sending a gift to a friend, taking a broken necklace into the jeweler, and on and on.

Part of our work is helping people to re-write their self-perceptions, oftentimes from a person who procrastinates or avoids to one who is capital c Capable.

That’s why it’s imperative that we help people narrow their responsibility list. The more selective the tasks, the more likely they are to be accomplished.

Attempt to do it all, and you’re likely to do little of significance, bolstering a negative perception of self as a result.

It’s as true about tangible items in your space as it is the intangibles of time management: excess overwhelms.

From a state of overwhelm, you’re not able to focus easily or work efficiently. The number of tasks that you’re able to follow through on dwindles rapidly as a result. (Ironically, you design yourself down a path of selectivity, whichever your route. The path of purposefulness feels better).

If you drown yourself in overwhelm long enough, you can start to believe your lack of follow-through is a defining characteristic. And, in time, lack of faith in your ability to reach the finish line can deter you from any attempts to begin.

What if it isn’t that you’re incapable of following through, only that you’ve been overloading yourself?

What if your weakness all along hasn’t been an ability to complete tasks, but to decipher which are worth your time and which are entirely unrealistic given your givens?

That would mean you have what it takes to finish what you start.

(A lack of follow-through might indicate a tendency to people please, or a sign that you need to further define your core values and the acts that support them, but it certainly doesn’t have to indicate an unchangeable character flaw.)

Be intentional about what you ask of yourself. Commit to less to achieve more.

Two things done well are worth infinitely more than twelve done shoddily, or not at all.