- Admit it, how many UFOs do you have?
UFOs meaning Unfinished Objects.
Works in progress.
This is my UFO drawer right here,
and it's, it's not full,
but there's stuff in there.
We all have this issue sometimes
that we end up with half-finished projects
that we lose the enthusiasm
for or we hit a sticking point,
and we just stop and pick
up something shinier.
So I had a great letter
about this from Marjolein
who said, "My biggest challenge in sewing
"is keeping my to-do list organised.
"I like to have multiple projects at once
"so I can jump between them
"to give my brain a change
of pace every now and then,
"but new shiny projects
are always more tempting
"than that work in progress
"where you weren't quite sure
how to tackle the next part,
"and then the change of
pace becomes an excuse
"not to continue that project.
"I know this, but I'm finding it hard
"to break through this pattern
"and actually pick up
that work in progress
"that I want to finish,
"but the longer I leave
it to ponder my next step,
"the harder it is to go back to it,
"and the longer my to-do list gets."
So this is the UFO Project.
We are going to tackle UFOs this week.
So, first of all, with your UFOs,
it doesn't have to be
complete to be successful.
You are assuming when you
maintain your pile of UFOs,
you're assuming that the point has to be
to finish them all.
That isn't necessarily the case,
because finishing a
project is not necessarily
what makes it successful.
It may be that project teaches
you a particular method
or technique, and after
you've done that part,
the project doesn't really
have much purpose anymore.
Maybe you found that you half-finished it,
you wore it half-finished,
you're not really excited
about it any more,
you don't think you're
actually going to wear it.
It's okay to let go.
If it's served its purpose,
if you've learnt something from it,
it may be that you need to let it go.
I mean, is it a dead end at this point?
It's not only okay to let it go,
but it's great to clear the dead wood
out of your sewing room,
because there will be things
that won't be successful.
There will be projects
that weren't successful,
and by clearing off the dead wood,
or kind of pruning what you're working on,
you release the stuck
energy in that dead project,
and release it to put that
energy into a new project.
The same great energy is when
you have like a clear out,
and you feel all this energy releasing
with all the stuff you get rid of.
So it's like, I suppose,
Konmari-ing your project pile.
So it's okay to let go is first of all.
Don't assume that everything
has to be finished one day.
If it really is a dead project,
then you can let it go.
This, then, gives energy to the rest,
so now you've released some
energy from the projects
that really were dead,
so you've got more energy
to put into your shorter list.
The ones that you really do
still want to carry on with,
and you do still want to finish,
now you've cleared the
way so you can sort them,
organise them, maybe label them.
I did that this morning.
Even in just my folders on my computer.
I keep work in progress
pictures of everything,
and there were folders
in there for projects
that I abandoned five or ten years ago,
and I'm never going to go back to them,
and it felt great to clear them out,
so that I could then
organise the rest of them
into a much shorter list.
I can see what I've got,
and I feel much more
inclined to work on those,
because I haven't got this enormous list.
Now the list is smaller, it
feels much more manageable,
and I know, and by going
through the process,
I now start to remember
why this or that project
was still exciting or
still worth finishing.
So now that you've got a shorter list
and you've got them sorted and organised,
and maybe in a little pile
somewhere, like in my drawer,
now you need to choose one to work on.
And for this, I suggest doing the same
as financial experts tell you to do
when you're paying off your credit cards.
They always say that the first thing
is to take the one with
the smallest debt on it
and pay that one off first,
because you get an easy
win, or an easier win.
By getting that one cleared, again,
you clear energy to pay
off the bigger ones.
So do the same with your projects.
Think of each one as a debt
on a credit card, perhaps,
for a minute, and think which
one has the least distance
to go to finish it.
Which of them is going to
be the easiest to finish?
Go for that one first.
Finish that one first, and again,
that clears it off the to-do list,
so now that you've got
some energy freed up again,
and more energy than before,
to give to the slightly harder ones,
or the slightly more tricky ones.
And that's a great way to then
work through the whole list,
but it's okay to have a couple of UFOs.
It's okay to have a couple
of works in progress,
because if you had absolutely
no projects on the go,
if you had absolutely no to-dos,
I think I might get
paralysed by what to do next,
so I kind of think it's a good idea
to have one or two works in progress
that are sitting there,
that you can pick up,
because it can be easier sometimes,
to pick up an existing project
when you know what to do
and the thinking might be already done
than it is to start a whole new project
and be thinking about buying fabric,
or finding a pattern, or whatever.
It can be nice to have
something you just pick up,
so don't necessarily
aim for a zero UFO list.
Aim to have just maybe
one or two on the go,
and just work down that list
gently, and you will get there.
So I hope that gives you ideas
to tackle your first UFO.
Tell me in the comments below,
which is the UFO you're
going to tackle first?
And even show me in your
stories on Instagram
and tag me so we can see you
finishing a UFO this week.
So I look forward to seeing your pictures
and seeing your comments.
I do read them all.
I'll see you soon.
