Jack of all Trades, Master of None

One of the things I have struggled with for years is to finish the things that I start. It's not that I necessarily get tired of the things that I'm doing; it's just that something more interesting or seemingly more urgent comes along, and I put off whatever I had been doing. I'd guess that I tend to do about 50-75% of a task before something more interesting comes along. When I finish a task I enjoy the sense of completion, and that motivates me to do more, but when I don't finish anything I lack the full motivation to do other things.

Similarly to task completion, in high school and college I was often overcommitted to many different organizations and events. I wanted to be involved in so many things and I wanted to be good at everything. But someone pointed out that I was becoming "A jack of all trades but a master of none." In other words, I was becoming good at many things, but not excellent at any of them. To do something excellently requires some degree of focus. When something needs to get done, I need some solid strategies to stay focused to get it done. Here are a few that I've found helpful:

1. Have a clear sense of the purpose of the task. Not only will this help with motivation, it will help focus the work done on the task. It's easy for me to stray from what really needs to get done and include lots of peripheral things, but this can really slow down the process. It's usually best to get the essentials done first, then go back and add special features at the end.
   
2. Get an overview of the whole task and identify some challenges that may come down the road.
   
3. Break a large task into manageable pieces. Block out large amounts of time to work on each piece.
   
4. Schedule a date to present my work to another person or group. This forms a sense of accountability for doing it.
5. Meet with others who are doing a similar task to share thoughts about it and encourage each other.
6. Remove distractions while working on the task. For example, working on a computer can be much more efficient than working with paper, but a computer has several potential distractions. It's helpful to find ways to minimize these distractions or sometimes avoid using a computer altogether.
   

I'm guessing that everyone struggles with task focus at some time or another. Whether or not you can relate to my exact experiences or strategies, I'd encourage you consider your ability to get things done and some ways that you could possibly improve.

I should also mention that in areas of leisure it's not always advisable for someone to finish the things that they start. A librarian told me once that if you're reading a book for leisure and realize that you don't like it, just put it back and get another one, since there are millions to choose from. If you are determined to finish that book before starting another, you may lose motivation and stop reading altogether, or just be miserable while pushing through it. This librarian's advice is helpful for many areas of leisure, not just reading, because if we feel like we have to check off a to-do list during our free time, that may not be very relaxing. The advice may apply to work sometimes when a person is halfway through a project that they realize is just not the right thing to do. In that case, it would be foolish to continue wasting resources in finishing the project; it would be better to change direction quickly to something that is is more productive.