Abandon a project

Outer Order, Inner Calm author Gretchen Rubin shares a tip for freeing up mental space

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
This week, we're going to be talking about several productivity
strategies I learned from my friend Gretchen Reuben. Gretchen is
the co host, with her sister Elizabeth Kraft, of the

(00:24):
podcast Happier. She's also the author of several books, including
The Happiness Project and Better Than Before. Today's tip that
she wanted to share with Before Breakfast listeners comes from
her most recent book, Outer Order. In her calm, the
tip abandon a project, Gretchen explains one source of clutter

(00:46):
in our homes and offices and a significant drain on
our energy, is the uncomfortable presence of unfinished projects. Whenever
I see evidence of an unfinished project, I get a
jolt of annoyance or guilt. I should organize those shelves,
or I need to finish alphabetizing those books. She says
that unfinished projects are irritating in themselves, and they also

(01:09):
contribute to clutter because we often leave them out in
the open as a reminder to finish them. So, according
to Gretchen, the quickest, easiest way to complete a project,
abandon it, decide you're never going to knit that sweater,
and get that stuff off your shelf and off your conscience.

(01:30):
I'm sure we all have projects like these. I've got
a cross stitched Christmas stocking in my office right now
that I began decades ago. I keep it on a
table because well, I know, as soon as I put
anything in a drawer, it may as well be dead
to me. I actually had a bag of my favorite
candy sitting in my top desk drawer for months, untouched.
I wish this was a sign of my willpower, but

(01:52):
alas it's more a sign that for me, out of
sight means out of mind. Clutter doesn't bother me that much.
But I of that for some people, having a decade
long project sitting somewhere you could see frequently would be
an invitation to madness. So if this is you, consider
taking Gretchen's advice. What would happen if you decided to

(02:13):
just quit the project. You could decide that you will
never get around to making your own ice cream, and
you could donate, sell, or toss that ice cream maker
that's been taking up real estate in your small kitchen
for years. What if you decided that you were never,
in fact going to learn calligraphy, so you could give
that kit to a neighbor's kid who enjoys that sort

(02:34):
of thing. The first thing you'd probably noticed is that
the world would not end. No one cares if he
makes your own ice cream, and it's quite possible to
live a rewarding life never having done so. You might
also feel more light when you consciously decide to abandon
a project. You might feel like you can direct that
energy to other things. Of course, if the thought of

(02:57):
abandoning a project feels more upsetting than anything else, then
maybe it's time to get real. Give yourself a deadline
and a time frame. Look at your calendar for this weekend,
figure out a time when you will buy the necessary ingredients,
read the instructions, and use that ice cream maker. Hold
yourself accountable by inviting a friend over to try it

(03:19):
with you. If you try it and it's great, awesome.
If the project still doesn't happen despite your schedule and
your accountability mechanism, you know it wasn't meant to be.
Or even if the project does happen and it wasn't
all that great, then you can feel free to continue
with the purge. What nagging projects are crowding up your life?

(03:40):
What can you decide to abandon so you can free
up that mental space In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

(04:03):
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then Breakfast
p o D. You can also shoot me an email
at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com.
That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

(04:30):
Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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