How do you get focussed with unfinished projects or goals that you are working on? What about if you are currently in the process of forming new habits and also have a multitude of open loops and half-finished tasks?
Here are some guilt free mental exercises to get focussed and back on track.
So, you’re juggling big goals, daily habits and multiple projects (plus a lot of “open loops”). Let’s connect the polishing stones visualisation we looked at in the post Urge to Rush with a practical operating system so it actually works in your day-to-day work.
1. Dealing with Open Loops
Right now, you are feeling the urge to rush, partly, because your brain is holding onto too many unfinished loops. Here’s how to apply the practice:
Step 1: Externalise everything
Take a list of all your open loops (tasks, ideas, habits, even vague “I should…” thoughts) and write them into a master list. This is your “stone basket.” I.e. This is where you will pick up one item and decide what it is.
Step 2: Categorise
Take each task in turn and mark next to it whether it should be done now, next or later. I use a shorthand N, Ne, L
- Now items, should be today’s single focus. Aim for 1 to 3 items.
- Next items are important but you don’t need to do them today.
- Later items can be safely held in storage. You will get to them eventually.
Step 3: The Ritual
Now start working on one of the now items, choose one that feels the most important and urgent. Each time you choose a “Now” task, pause and run the mantra/visualisation, we looked at in the previous post : “This stone only. The basket is safe.”
This turns focus into a micro-meditation and is a great method of staying present and focussed.
2. Applying this to Larger Goals/Habits
If you have items on your list that are large, for instance goals or habits that will take weeks or months to finish, then these can be reframed as projects. For example, for me, my current big areas are health/ weight loss, building my online business and purchasing my next rental property. Here’s how you can break something like this into a small item or stone you can polish:
- Weight loss / fitness: Today’s “stone” could be to log my calories and walk 10,000 steps. I’m not going to think about the whole 20-pound weight loss goal.
- Online business building: Today’s “stone” is to write 1 LinkedIn post or edit 1 YouTube video. Again, I’m not going to focus on the bigger goal or project of getting 1,000 subscribers.
- Property project: Today’s “stone” is to research one deal or set an appointment to view one property.
Remember that one polished stone each day, per category, is progress and progress is the real goal.
3. Batch Processing
Do some of your unfinished projects, have related task that can be batched together? As an example, I have restarted my YouTube channel and have a list of blog posts that I would like to repurpose into shortform videos. This is where the basket of stones metaphor is gold. Here is a method I am using so that I can get up to date.
Pre-batch
First capture all the “stones” in the metaphorical basket. So, break down your project into subtasks that can be batched together. In my example of YouTube videos, it will be converting the blog to film scripts, collecting B-roll film clips, recording, editing and writing YouTube descriptions.
Batch Mode Ritual
Next pick one type of stone, usually the first in the sequence, in this case it will be converting the blog post to video scripts.
Then in your head run the mantra/visualisation:
“Only scripts today. Filming and editing is safe in the basket.”
Now focus only on polishing that set of stones. I.e. writing the scripts.
Post-batch
Once you have finished that batch, place them back into the basket mentally: “Scripting complete. Now recording the film will have its turn.”
This helps to keep your brain from trying to think about filming while your are scripting, editing while filming or writing descriptions while uploading.
4. The Daily Reset
At the end of each day, imagine placing all the polished stones back in the mental basket. Everything is completed or you’ve made progress. This trains your brain to see incompletion as safe, not threatening. Its fine to be incomplete, as long as you are making progress.
How this works in Practice
In the morning (or night before) pick the day’s “Now” stone for each category you chose: (e.g. health, business, property, habits).
During the day, each time you switch tasks, run the mantra/visualisation for 30 seconds.
Use batch days and dedicate the whole session to one category of stone (e.g. only recording videos).
Here’s a typical day for me, based around my energy levels:
Morning Focus (High-energy stones)
My energy levels are high and I can tackle more demanding and creative tasks.
- 09:00 – Writing
- Mantra: “This stone only. A polished page is progress.”
- Even if you stop mid-idea, it goes safely into the basket for tomorrow.
- 10:00 – Prep/Recording Videos (batch focus)
- Today I’m only recording. Scripts, editing, thumbnails are safe in the basket.
- Repeat mantra: “I polish one set of stones today: recording only.”
Midday Focus
- 12.00 – Lifting Weights (30–min)
- Think: “One workout polished today builds strength tomorrow.”
- 12:30 – Reading Aloud (20 min)
- I read aloud from a book which helps with YouTube delivery, confidence and articulation.
Afternoon Focus (Lighter stones)
- 13:00 – Lunch & Walk
- Walking/steps. I aim for at least 10,000 steps per day so an hour of walking really sets me up for success.
- 14:00 – Loose tasks (email replies, admin, errands, quick wins)
- Small stones. Whatever gets polished is good enough.
- Meetings – I try to set any meetings for the afternoon, so I’m not using up valuable creative energy.
- 16:00 – Reading/ workbook (30 min)
- I usually have a workbook I am going through, for learning and development. This is a good time to make some progress.
- Mantra: “Enjoy this stone. Depth is better than speed.”
Evening Reset
- 19:00 – Reflection (5 min)
- Visualise putting polished stones back in the basket.
- Plan my day for tomorrow.
- Say: “Progress today is enough. Tomorrow, more stones will shine.”
How to Manage “Not-Started-Yet” Projects
Projects and campaigns that you haven’t started yet will remain in the Later basket. At my weekly review (usually Friday) I will, review the later basket and ask: “Can any of these items be placed into the Now or Next baskets?” If not then they are safe. There’s no need to rush them.
Why This Works
As we saw in the previous post about the Urge to Rush this flips time scarcity into trust. You begin to trust your system, nothing important will get missed. Then you start to see progress daily, not just endless unfinished loops.
Batching tasks together feels safer; you feel like you are making progress in each meaningful area. For instance, in my video recording area of focus, I have a recording day, so I only ‘polish’ recording stones. For the editing day, I’m only polishing editing stones.
Loose tasks cease to steal your focus; they will get their own time slot in the day, so they don’t nag at you while you’re polishing other bigger stones.
If your curious about this kind of mindset shift, I’ve got more on it in my weekly newsletter, you can join this here.