the importance of ending right

I just wrote about the importance of starting right in terms of starting various projects or blocks of time (day, week, etc.).  On the flip side of that article is also the idea of “ending right.”  I always feel much better about my day if I have ended on some sort of high note.  I have had way too many days where I find myself browsing the Internet until the wee hours of the morning before dragging myself to bed feeling like I wasted a ton of time.  By ending right you can help carry the momentum you built up and took advantage of during the day and restart it easily when you pick up the task(s) again.

So, what’s the big deal with “ending right?”

1.  It’s a great time for reflection– Spending some time to reflect on your day, a project, your life or any other task is a great way to learn from mistakes and improve yourself for the future.  Taking a few minutes to write out some thoughts about the way your day went or details about a particular aspect of it can be a great learning tool.

2. End on a high note– If you can wrap up your work for the day on a high note, you will have the enthusiasm needed to get back at it the next day.  Or, if you are wrapping up a project, you can spend a few minutes really putting some excellent finishing touches on it instead of rushing to meet a deadline.  You are bound to feel better about your end result when you can end on a high note and truly know that you are putting out excellent work.

3. Prepare for the future– Ordering your thoughts will prepare you for the future.  At the end of the day one of my favorite things to do to prepare for tomorrow is to write out my 3 MITs. Going to bed knowing exactly what I’m going to work on when I get up is a very relaxing thing for me.  Some people may not like already having articulated their tasks for the next day when they go to bed– and that’s fine.  But spending a few minutes thinking about the future can do a lot to help reduce the stress of uncertainty.

Between “starting right” and “ending right”, you can focus your best attention on the hard work at hand.  Neither one of these takes a particularly long time or a lot of effort, but they can do a lot to help you out.  Remember, sometimes the smallest and simplest actions can have the largest impact.

What can you do tonight to make sure you “end right?”  What are you going to do the next time you are given a large project to work on to make sure you “start right?”

Photo by skorskimus

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