Getting Anxious At Unfinished Tasks

[gracer]

Hi guys! I have this tendency to get anxious whenever I have tasks that I'm not able to finish or complete on time. Sometimes my sleep would get affected and even my focus on other things would get too hazy for me. My mind becomes too stuffy that I would sometimes feel overwhelmed by it. When this happens, I don't get to think clearly. The only remedy would be for me to finish whatever it is that is bothering me.


Have you ever felt anxious during times that you were not able to finish your tasks on time? How did you deal with it?

 

[Corzhens]

You can say that I am very professional when it comes to my job. There are times that my husband would get angry at me when I seem to be sitting on pins and needles at home. You can guess that my project is pending and I am anxious on what to do the next day. I couldn't work over time because my colleagues go home early and we don't have overtime pay. But for me, an unfinished project is a pain in the neck that I would keep on thinking about it. There were times that I couldn't sleep at night because of a project that my team has to finish on the next day. Fortunately, all my projects are completed satisfactorily maybe partly because of my over-thinking about it.

 

[pwarbi]

Being anxious over something that is left unfinished I would imagine is very common with a lot of people. It doesn't even have to be work related and simply leaving pot's left unwashed in a kitchen can cause some people not to be able to sleep or concentrate on anything else until they have been washed. For me it's only natural for people to want to finish what they have started, and even though sometimes we have to stop a job or we get sidetracked into doing something else, in the back of our mind it's always niggling away at us that we have something we need to complete.


How anxious a person gets about things like that will often depend on what they are like in their everyday lives, and if we can learn to relax a bit more, we will soon realise that not everything needs to be started and finished in one complete cycle, and we can leave things to be finished at a later time.

 

[Zeesi]

I'm kind of like that when there is something that I have to do outside of my house and job (I work from home). If I have to go to the post office, to the grocery store, I have to do those things first thing in the morning, or else I think about them and can't relax. To me, having to go and get something done, but not going to do it right away is such a nuisance.


Years ago I read in a book that "an ounce of morning is worth a pound of afternoon." I took that saying to heart. I really try to get all of my "outside" tasks done before 12 noon, and keeping in mind the 'ounce of morning' premise, it means a lot to me, and I mean a lot, if I can get out of the house even at 11:45 AM (just a few minutes before 12) to get on my way and start my tasks. Just as long as I'm out before noon.


As far as other types of work are concerned, of the non-running errands variety, I can leave a task undone, but there are conditions that have to be met. First, I have to be, at least on some level, trying to work on the task, not just leaving it undone altogether. Secondly, if I leave a thing undone, ideally I'd like for it to be "tidily and neatly" left undone.


For instance, if I start working on filing a stack of papers, and at the end of a couple of hours I still have work to do, but need to stop working on those papers in order to tend to something else, I need to tidy up the piles, and make things neat before I walk away and on to something else.


Or, if I have a stack of dishes to be washed that I don't have time to tend to at that present moment, I can walk away from the dirty dishes, but I have to give them a quick rinse with my kitchen sink sprayer, make sure that they are stacked up neatly and that the counter-tops are cleaned off, that sort of thing.

 

[John Snort]

I'm just like you gracer. If I can't finish something I planned to then I can't get anything else done. It was a serious problem in the past before I discovered the root cause of the anxiety. However from the time I did, I always schedule my day appropriately so everything that is to be done is completed on time. That I believe is the way to (preemptively) kill anxiety that you'd have to deal with if you've got any uncompleted tasks at the end of the day — just plan your day and stick to it (the plan, that is) unless circumstances force you to change the plans.

 

[kgord]

I don't like leaving tasks uncompleted, but there are plenty around here that are like that, so I guess it doesn't make me that anxious. What I don't like though is when I have certain goals, and I can't meet them. That causes me an anxiety problem. I just wish there was an easier way to get things done. It is one of the things that does make me anxious in life.

 

[Panic57]

I'm kind of like that when there is something that I have to do outside of my house and job (I work from home). If I have to go to the post office' date=' to the grocery store, I have to do those things [b']first thing[/b] in the morning, or else I think about them and can't relax. To me, having to go and get something done, but not going to do it right away is such a nuisance.
Years ago I read in a book that "an ounce of morning is worth a pound of afternoon." I took that saying to heart. I really try to get all of my "outside" tasks done before 12 noon, and keeping in mind the 'ounce of morning' premise, it means a lot to me, and I mean a lot, if I can get out of the house even at 11:45 AM (just a few minutes before 12) to get on my way and start my tasks. Just as long as I'm out before noon.


As far as other types of work are concerned, of the non-running errands variety, I can leave a task undone, but there are conditions that have to be met. First, I have to be, at least on some level, trying to work on the task, not just leaving it undone altogether. Secondly, if I leave a thing undone, ideally I'd like for it to be "tidily and neatly" left undone.


For instance, if I start working on filing a stack of papers, and at the end of a couple of hours I still have work to do, but need to stop working on those papers in order to tend to something else, I need to tidy up the piles, and make things neat before I walk away and on to something else.


Or, if I have a stack of dishes to be washed that I don't have time to tend to at that present moment, I can walk away from the dirty dishes, but I have to give them a quick rinse with my kitchen sink sprayer, make sure that they are stacked up neatly and that the counter-tops are cleaned off, that sort of thing.

I think you nailed it when you said that an ounce of morning is worth a pound of afternoon. I keep really odd hours because of my nocturnal habits of working into the morning of the next day. But I tried to make of list of six important things I need to do before I finish my day and put them in order from most important to least. I find that if I work on the important things first thing after I wake up I feel better after getting them done. I also think this helps with procrastinating on jobs or tasks I don't like to do but need to get done. I also find that I work harder in the morning than in the evening. I do find that I start to feel anxious though if I've spent the whole morning on one task and I haven't finished it. I've spent a couple days not sleeping trying to get a task done because I wouldn't have been able to sleep if just left it undone.

 

[Laneorexorcist]

This used to be a big deal when I first started college. Everything seemed so big and important that I couldn't help myself to make it as perfect as possible and that used to take a lot of time and energy from me. But now after four semesters I finally stopped taking things so seriously, I mean, okay, they are homeworks, they have a value, but that doesn't mean that I have to put literally everything on every single one, that would be the death to me.

 

[gracer]

Thank you for all your replies guys! It feels relieving to know that I'm not alone in this kind of feeling.


Zeesi I also usually feel the need to finish important tasks or as many tasks as I can in the morning. I don't know but there's just something about finishing tasks in the morning that gives me a feeling of contentment. I also work from home so whenever I have to pay bills or I have to buy something important, I make sure that I do them in the morning as early as possible so I could go home early and fulfill my online tasks. I like your "an ounce of morning is a pound of afternoon" mentality and I think I'm going to take note of it so I can also absorb it for myself.

 

[hades_leae]

I have this same effect, but I wouldn't really say that I get anxious. I'm a web developer, and when I don't finish my programming, I just can't sleep. It makes me want to stay up all night, and I have had many occasions where I stayed up for many hours beyond what I wanted because I just needed to get done with whatever it was that I was working on.


Even with my daily schedule, if I don't get something done through out my day that I planned, I feel like I failed, and it will keep bugging me until I do it.

 

[amy88]

100% this sums me up -- honestly I've had times where I just haven't slept because I've had unfinished stuff I needed to take care of. Trying to sleep is hard when I feel like I have the weight of those things on my shoulders.


These days I try and just stay on top of things as best as I can - so that I don't have tasks that are unmanageable or that will take a really long time. One thing I've really found useful is learning to ask for help from people that want to lend a hand. I used to be awful at asking for help because I thought it made it seem like I couldn't manage things on my own, but really a lot of the time people WANT to help!!

 

[gracer]

Sometimes it could also be draining especially when you can't sleep at night because you want to finish your task. Just like hades_leae, I would usually stay up late at night until I finish my online work because I know that I still have other tasks to do the next day. I couldn't afford to sleep on my work because it's my only source of income right now. But I also have to finish them everyday before another day starts because I also have house chores to fulfill especially in the morning.

 

[Alex]

I have always been a person that needed to complete tasks, and am more anxious when they are being done. However, it got to one point in my life where somethings couldn't be finished (due to other people) and yes, I would be angry, anxious, and frustrated, but then I woke up the next day and life goes on. I realized that yes, it may have been important at the time, but it's not the end of the world and life and the world will carry on. I guess I would never have felt that way unless I was pushed into the situation, but I have been on several occasions, so while I still like to get things done, if they don't I know it will still be okay.


I do feel that we put pressure on ourselves, unnecessarily that is because a magazine or the media tells us successful people do that. What they omit is the minions they have helping them, and it's healthier not to compare ourselves, and do what feels right and what is right for our own situation.

 

[sidney]

I think that would only affect me and make me anxious if it's work related in the real world, since you could lose your job, you know? But for other less important things, then the anxiety doesn't really affect me, even if it was school work, lol.

 

[pwarbi]

A lot of people that struggle to get anything else done until one task is finished have often said in the past that making a list of hat they have to do the next day or for the rest of the eek helps them, but in the past I tried that and found it was actually counter productive for me, and it made me worse. I'm sure that we all start the day off knowing exactly what we want to do, but sometimes life gets in the way and things can change quickly.


I found that if I had a list and something came up that meant I couldn't complete that list, I felt even worse about things and then not only did I have things I needed to do, I also had a list as well that I couldn't finish as well. A list might be the best option for people that have a routine in their life that they know they can stick to, but if your like me and your life can get complicated sometimes maybe making a definite list of things to do isn't the best option.

 

[gracer]

Alex I really admire your positivity. Your words have always been some sort of consolation for me whenever I read them because you seem to always find something positive out of a negative situation. I hope I could also be the same but there are just those times when I just couldn't control my pessimism. At times I do realize how unreasonable I am towards myself and others but at times I still tend to lose control of myself. So thank you for always bringing in an attitude of positivity here.


pwarbi I think I can relate with what you are saying because when I know that I made a list of the things I need to do, it gives me the thought that I should finish this list or else I would get anxious again. This most especially happens when I have a lot on my list and I have only checked a few as done despite the fact that my day is nearly done. When that happens, I surely wouldn't be able to sleep well thinking about how I'm going to insert my unfinished tasks on my next daily schedule which also has a lot of new tasks on them.

 

[whysewserious]

I do make lists, but they are also under categories - a must do today, this week, this month, etc. If I have a work deadline, those dirty dishes are going to have to be ok with staying dirty for another day. Sometimes I will get to those little tasks to free my brain up a little bit. So I am still getting stuff done.


However, I bring a lot of this on myself - I procrastinate horribly.

 

[Zeesi]

I think you nailed it when you said that an ounce of morning is worth a pound of afternoon. I keep really odd hours because of my nocturnal habits of working into the morning of the next day. But I tried to make of list of six important things I need to do before I finish my day and put them in order from most important to least. I find that if I work on the important things first thing after I wake up I feel better after getting them done. I also think this helps with procrastinating on jobs or tasks I don't like to do but need to get done. I also find that I work harder in the morning than in the evening. I do find that I start to feel anxious though if I've spent the whole morning on one task and I haven't finished it. I've spent a couple days not sleeping trying to get a task done because I wouldn't have been able to sleep if just left it undone.

I, too, keep what many others would consider odd hours, but I have learned to just go with my schedule and not fight it. Thankfully I have been blessed to be able to work from home so that I can adhere to the kind of schedule that I like, but even when I was going out into the "workworld", my hours kind of stayed the same, pretty much. I would go to work from 8 to 5, take a few naps when I got home, and then wake up at about 1 in the morning, try to go back to sleep, that sort of thing. These days, I am awake when many people are asleep, you know, between 10 PM to 6AM. I like being up at 2, 3 and 4 in the morning.


I agree with you, making a list of things that need to be done is really a great strategy for productivity.


I heard a motivational speaker (via dvd) say that many times when we are going on vacation, the days prior to that, we get a lot done, why? because we make a list of things that have to be done before we leave, and we make sure we get those things done prior to leaving.


He went on to say that if we employ this "vacation" strategy every day instead of just at vacation time, we would get a lot more done. I agree with him, but I don't put it into daily practice.

 

[Laneorexorcist]

This is a really common concern for me... A lot of people just seems to be okay with procrastinating when they have tasks to complete and I just can't deal with that feeling, even if the tasks that I need to complete are not urgent, the simple fact of knowing that I'm not doing anything to get them done is horrible for me. And I think that's a good thing for now, it really has made me responsible and that's really positive while being an student. So... I hope that doesn't affects me at some point.

 

[Dylan]

I had that problem a lot in college, and unfortunately it caused me to drop out. The deadlines always brought a feeling of dread, increasing each day as it grew closer. While I wasn't able to cope with it, I did find making a schedule to be very helpful. Breaking down the tasks into smaller parts and spreading them out helps give you the feeling of accomplishment. That feeling can really help you get through the nervousness that comes with deadlines and things like that. I hope this help, and good luck.