Being “done” signifies completion.
And while this isn’t inherently bad… when it comes to the things we can never really “complete”—maybe this isn’t exactly good either.
Think about health, introspection, and connection.
These things are never “completed.”
And so if we can teach ourselves to “end” before we’re all the way “done”—we’ll essentially be learning how to create open loops that our mind might want to “close” in the future.
Some examples:
- For exercise: Finish when you’re 70% fatigued. Leave unfinished business at the gym. Keep that hunger for continued growth alive vs. completely exhausting yourself to a miserable pulp.
- For writing: Leave some ideas unexplored. I use the notes app to capture ideas whenever I have them and now have well over 100 unexplored ideas. This gives me launch points for each of my future writing sessions vs. having to stare at a blank screen each time because I finished exploring all of them at the last one.
- For conversation: Don’t exhaust all of your questions and curiosities. Leave some room for mystery and exploration for the next conversation or for follow up messages. A conversation a little too short is probably better than a conversation that went a little too long.
When you create an open-ended process for the things that compound in value over time, you give your future self a hat-tip that makes the start of the next session easier.
And anything that makes starting easier should always be considered.