In my case, this project has helped me realize that talking to people about projects I’m going to do helps create some of the pressure I need to get things done. I work better if I have a schedule, and although I didn’t follow the schedule I’d created for this project, listing out everything I would need to do by when helped make the project seem a little smaller and more doable. I made more progress getting this rather bigger idea done than many of my smaller ideas from the past few years.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I made any particularly groundbreaking discoveries throughout this process as far as how to get things done. You just have to work. A number of factors play into completing projects, and the only thing I noticed in common with all of them was time—spending too much, not spending enough, spending it in other places. All of my interviews mentioned how important this factor was in what they had tried to accomplish.

One thing in particular that stood out to me throughout this project is the effect one unfinished project can have. Dave commented on the domino effect of home improvement projects, noting that one completed project can suddenly render something else an unfinished project by comparison. Ryan’s project spills over into other things he participates in, such as his role-playing games. The Treaty of Paris, 1783 is significantly more memorable to me because it isn’t finished, and the unfinished creations of Donatello and Michelangelo have inspired other things long after work upon them had ceased.