Half-a-job Bob is the guy who never fully finishes what he’s doing. He cleans the home, but doesn’t put away the hoover or duster after use. He will process his mail and pay his bills but he won’t actually file any of it away till later. It drives me mad, because he regularly leaves loose ends all over the place without a care in the world, so they inevitably become my loose ends too. Are you like half-a-job Bob?
Of course, Bob doesn’t actually exist, at least not in my social circles. I’m just using that name to protest the identity of the individuals that inspired this post, that regularly commit one of my big pet peeves. If you are somebody who never completely finishes a task and ties up all the loose ends, then prepare to be called half-a-job Bob. Or Sue or Sam, Matt, Amanda…
Anything that is incomplete will take up a little bit of your brain, a little bit of your mental energy. Writing these incompletes down as actionable tasks goes a long way to freeing up your head from the hassle and stress of remember it all, but it’s not the full answer. Just because you’ve done the hard part of a project or you’ve cleaned your home from top to bottom, it doesn’t mean your brain will let go. It’s all about those pesky loose ends.
Instead, view your brain as a radar. Every little blip is something incomplete in your life that needs your attention, and as you can imagine, if you’ve got a dozen things blipping away like you’re in the middle of a Morse coders convention, you’re going to eventually go mad. The only way to stop something blipping is to complete it 100%. Put the hoover away after cleaning, file your paperwork afer opening it, clear your desk after writing a report… get it off your radar.
April 27, 2009 at 06:33PM
I couldn’t agree more. When I leave something unfinished it bothers me until it’s done and then I feel so much better.
April 29, 2009 at 09:08PM
Hi, my name is Jeff and I’m a “half-a-job Bob.”
“Hi Jeff.”
I’ve got about four projects on my desk right now. I try to do better. Make lists as I think of things that need to be done. But sometimes the first part of one job leads to the start of another. A knock at the door, a phone call, a… the list goes on. Ugh!
Thanks for the encouragement. Now I’ve got to get back to that last job I was working on before I stopped to check email and then started to write here.
April 29, 2009 at 09:43PM
Hi Jeff, welcome to Organize IT. If you need anymore help to get focused just ask!