On Finishing What We Start

Have you ever had trouble finishing what you start?

It could be something small, like fully cleaning your studio, or something bigger—building a stand, reorganizing a rack, or finishing a track that’s been sitting on your hard drive far longer than you intended. In today’s attention economy, there are endless things competing for our focus, and sometimes it feels surprisingly difficult to bring anything to a clean conclusion.

I touched on this in a previous post when I talked about rushing to set up one of my rack units. I was so eager to see whether the idea would work that I told myself, once I know it works, I’ll come back and finish the details later. That moment never really came. The rack works, it looks fine, and only I know it isn’t completely finished.

That experience got me thinking about how many ideas never quite reach the finish line. Studio layouts, acoustic treatment plans, computer upgrades, workflow changes—things we fully intend to complete but somehow don’t. And it’s easy to assume this happens because we’re distracted, but that’s not always the case.

Not Everything Is Left Unfinished for the Same Reason

Sometimes projects stall because of very real constraints: time, money, energy, opportunity, or life simply getting in the way. Other times, if we’re being honest, it’s because the couch and the latest episode of Matlock looked more appealing that evening.

But this raises an interesting question:
Is it always important to finish what we start?

During my studio redesign, there were moments—ones I’ve mentioned before—where I spent an unreasonable amount of time trying to force a workflow that no one would ever realistically use, including me. In those cases, the healthiest decision wasn’t to finish the idea, but to abandon it entirely. Walking away was the right move.

On the other hand, there are projects that shouldn’t be left hanging. As my blog and YouTube channel head into 2026, there are certain things I know I need to complete—not because they’re perfect, but because they need closure.

Knowing When Something Is “Done”

Sometimes knowing when a job is finished is obvious. Changing a tire is a good example: once the new tire is on and then bolts are tight, the job is done. There’s no philosophical debate about it.

Creative work isn’t like that.

Many of us have struggled with knowing when a track is finished, when a studio setup is “good enough,” or when another tweak is no longer adding value. These decisions aren’t technical—they’re personal. They’re shaped by our personalities, our tolerance for imperfection, and our internal sense of order.

What guides those decisions?
Preference?
Necessity?
Priority?
Or just a quiet gut instinct that says, This is enough?

A Studio That’s Always Becoming

Late at night, when I’m working in my studio, I sometimes look around and think, One day this will be finished. What finished actually means isn’t always clear. Maybe it never is.

Perhaps some projects are meant to be completed, others intentionally abandoned, and some allowed to exist forever in a state of “almost.” The challenge isn’t finishing everything—it’s learning which things deserve to be finished, and which ones are better left behind.

And maybe that, in its own way, is part of the creative process too.