That Pesky Last Ten Percent

Why is it so hard to finish that project that's almost done?

Dec 19, 2024

One of the primary struggles with ADHD is finding that motivation to get started working on a task or project. Task initiation remains a constant struggle when we can’t seem to get started on that important looming project.

Once we get going, we can often fly through that middle 80% of the project, like a train barreling down the tracks, we build this huge momentum behind us that makes it hard to stop.

Until… it stops.

…just short of the goal.

Whether our motivation train stalls out completely with the finish line still in view, or we just keep extending the track in front of us by adding more “must-haves” to the project . . . it feels like we can’t quite finish those final touches that allow us to mark a task as complete.

There are several psychological barriers that this situation so common for people with ADHD:

Fear of failure. If the project isn’t complete yet, it can’t fail and we can’t feel the sting of that negativity.
Perfectionism. Whether this comes from the fear of failure (or fear of judgement) or we feel like “our potential” demands much more of us than we’ve yet given.
Loss of interest. Sometimes the project/task just doesn’t seem interesting any more now that we’ve learned how to do it.

Strategies for Task Completion

So what can we do when this happens? How can we make sure those projects that are oh-so-close get across the finish line?

Just Ship It

In app development, there’s a concept of just shipping an “MVP” (Minimum Viable Product, not Most Valuable Player) version of an app or new feature. This essentially means “do the easy, simple, crappy version that works and release it to users first and then improve it later.”

While this won’t work for all tasks, this is great for something you know that you can continue to iterate and work on even after “shipping” or marking as complete.

Often times I’ll think that certain features of a project are “absolute essential!” until I ship the MVP version without those features and realize I don’t actually care about them any more. 🙃

Break It Down (again)

Treat the remaining part of the project as a brand new project. Consider that first 90% as a completed project and then take the remaining 10% as something new and break it into small tasks.

Tip: each task should begin with an action verb: instead of just a vague task like “final video edits”, it might be:

add background music
adjust audio levels
export final render
upload to platform

By breaking it down again, it helps reset your brain and reduce the overwhelm and weight of the looming final tasks to be completed and lets you treat it as something new (that you can tackle again with the 4 Cs of Motivation!).

Roleplay

Similar to the last strategy, just pretend that someone else did the first 90% and your job is to fix it and make it better!

I did this a lot when writing my book - I would write the crappy version of a chapter, then pretend someone else wrote it and I was the editor that had to fix all their mistakes. Worked surprisingly well!

Accountability and Body Doubling

Sometimes the best way to get the energy to focus on a task is to force it to happen! Find a friend that’s also struggling with task completion, set a timer and work simultaneously on that final 10%.

High fives after a set amount of time, no matter the specific progress.

What are some strategies you’ve tried for getting over that final 10% project?