Just finish the job

For small tasks, it's inefficient to stop in the middle

Recently, I was returning two books from the first floor up to my 4-year-old’s room. I set them down outside the door, in the hallway, and started walking away.

Then I pondered what I was doing. Much as I wish this were not the case, nobody else was likely to put those books back on the shelf. Putting them down on the floor rather than on the shelf had saved me, maybe, 15 seconds. By leaving them outside the door, I was pretty much guaranteeing I would be doing this chore in two parts, rather than one.

It would have been much more efficient just to finish the job.

Perhaps you’ve had similar experiences. Things linger on the stairs. A dish sits in the sink, rather than making the 5 second move to the dishwasher. The reusable grocery bags sit on the counter rather than going back in the trunk of the car.

Perhaps there are psychological reasons we stop before things are done. I’m guessing many people who read this newsletter do more than their share of household tasks (or, perhaps, administrative housekeeping at work). By leaving a mug in the sink, we are broadcasting the message that “I have put enough other people’s dishes away in my life — how about someone just pick up the slack for me now?”

And maybe that will happen. But it also might not. And then instead of tacking on a few seconds to put the mug in the dishwasher the first time, you have to deal with it a second time.

All but done isn’t done. It’s generally more efficient to just finish the job.

That’s not to say other people shouldn’t do more! But it’s often more effective to discuss these things in a straightforward way and negotiate them, including all the steps. Teens might be responsible for doing their own laundry, which includes putting things away in a reasonable time frame. Taking the garbage out might also include taking the empty cans back up by the end of the day the garbage truck comes.

But once you’ve started a job, best to give yourself the gift of only needing to do it once. I’m a fan of not spending any more time on these things than we need to.