Ninety Percent by Jenn McKinlay

Jenn McKinlay: If you've followed this blog for any amount of time, you have probably learned a few things about me. I like dessert for breakfast (#badbreakfastchoices), I refer to my children as Hooligans, my Hub is a musician, etc. and so forth. Well, here's another factoid that I want to share.

I am a ninety-percenter. 

What does this mean? I'll tell you! 

One of the other things, you might have learned about me by now is that I am a DIY girl. I love a good home improvement project!

It makes sense when I realize I was raised to be incredibly self-sufficient by today's standards. I can chop firewood, mow the lawn, bake bread, iron clothes, maintain a garden, tile a bathroom floor, paint the interior or exterior of my house (with a paint sprayer but still), and so on. 

My parents did not gender discriminate over chores. Everyone learned to do everything because cooking and cleaning wasn't just for girls and yard work and automotive care wasn't just for boys. I raised the Hooligans the same way. You're welcome future Hooligan spouses. But here's something I learned about my self recently when I was putting in our new pet friendly floors. I only finish any project to about ninety percent and then I move on to the next project without ever finishing the first one. Ack!

How did I discover this? Well, as I was gazing up at the kitchen cupboards that I started to refinish with frames and paneling in 2017, I realized I never finished the cupboard doors over the refrigerator. They are painted but plain - no paneling, no framing. Do I still have the supplies? Yup. Do I have the motivation? Nope. 

Then I was installing the threshold from the new floor in the hallway to one of the Hooligan's old bedrooms and realized I never put in the baseboards over the "new" flooring the Hooligans installed during their fall break in 2014. Oops! Also, we painted the room in 2016 and I found that we left one narrow wall by the closet green while the new color was blue. In my defense it was behind a short bookcase, but yeah...still green.

Then I thought about my books and I realized that my first draft is usually about ninety percent finished when I turn it in and I have come to rely upon my fabulous editor to tell me how to revise/rewrite the book until it is one hundred percent complete. Don't get me wrong, I write the last chapters in the first draft so it's all there, it's just that there's about ten percent of the manuscript that needs to be fixed up -- rather like that pesky kitchen cupboard -- and I need a nudge to get it done. 

Being a former librarian, naturally, I had to do some research. There is a condition called Completion Anxiety which seemed possible but I read the symptoms and knew that wasn't it. There's also Procrastination but that's not it either as I'm a great starter. I don't put things off, I just don't finish them. In talking to my doc, we agreed that I have an adult case of ADD attention deficit disorder. When I read through the literature, I thought -- That's it! 

One of my goals for 2024 is to commit to projects from start to finish and double back and finish the ones I've left incomplete. I already dug a hat out of the project bin that I started in 2018 and put aside when --you guessed it -- there was about 10% left to go. I am happy to say, that it has been completed. 

There's a flicker of motivation burning in my soul that gets brighter with each task I complete, so I have hope. I think if I can get myself up to ninety-seven percent, I'll call it a win! 

So, how about you, Reds and Readers? Are you a finisher? Do you finish every task you set for yourself? Or do you get close to the finish line and take a nap like me? 

Are You a Starter or a Finisher?

Jenn with s-i-l Natalie in Jan 2009.
That scarf came in handy!

JENN McKINLAY: About nine years ago, I decided I was going to learn how to knit. For reals, this time. I had tried it before but there was a lot of counting and some of the stitches were akin to deciphering a secret code, honestly, ssk, yo, k1, p2, what did it all mean? I had started so many projects over the years with great enthusiasm but then life would happen and I never finished them. I was a grand starter and had a bag stuffed with miscellaneous skeins of yarn and unfinished projects like the ribbing from a vest, half of a beanie, and a quarter of a potholder. It was ridiculous. 

Newly determined, I tried to pick projects that I thought might actually get finished. I started with the basic scarf and hoped the stitch was complicated enough to be cool and hold my interest but could be accomplished faster than an incoming ice age. Halfway through the first very long scarf and it felt like a journey without end. 

Booties!

It became clear that for me, knitting (like writing) bogged down in the middle at a crossroads I think of as the choice between punching through to the bitter end or abandoning all hope. I chose bitterness and refused to quit. Through sheer determination, and several episodes of Sherlock, I was able to knit my way into the homestretch and finish my first scarf. I'm not saying it felt like giving birth or finishing a manuscript, but there were some marked similarities, most notably the cool "Hey, I made that!" feeling at the end of it. Yes, there were some dropped stitches and I did have to go back and fix the random error, usually by ripping out several rows of knitting but for the first time I could remember I didn't mind.

My impatience years ago, during those first few projects, made it not worth it to me to go back and fix things even though they bugged me, which led to my eventual quitting. Now a little older and wiser and more determined, I had the patience to  fix things. I wasn't rushing for an outcome so much as trying to make the best possible scarf, hat, what have you, and I knew it would take as long as it took and I'd be happier if I fixed the stitches that bothered me. It was worth the effort and time to make it right. Essentially, I evolved into a finisher!

Jenn's current project.

Since then, I've gone on to knit blankets, hats, pillows, bags, etc. It's my reward at the end of the day for getting my writing done. It also soothes me when the writing goes poorly. At least I feel as if I'm accomplishing something even if it's just another square on a blanket or maybe it's mastering a pattern that had been difficult and I finally get it. I love those light bulb moments!

So, how about you, Reds? Are you starters or finishers? How do you get motivated to finish a project when it's a struggle?