Have you ever heard someone describe their day as productive and successful because they “tied up a bunch of loose ends”?
What does that actually mean?
What are loose ends, and do I have any?
Chances are likely a resounding YES! So what are they?
Loose ends come in many sizes and forms, from work related tasks, around the house projects or personal obligations which we have started but not yet finished. Wether it’s a fix up job you promised your partner you’d take care of, a car service that is long overdue, or and unfinished work project, most of us have them.
Good and Bad Loose Ends
Just to be clear not all loose ends are a problem; just the ones which bother you. Loose ends that you don’t want can take a lot of mental energy out of you. These are the bad loose ends.
Back to the car service example. Perhaps you have been putting off a blinking light on the dash board or a squeak under the hood because you suspect that the mechanic will notice it and several other issues that you can’t afford. So you put it off because you are afraid of bad news. You are not helping yourself by ignoring the problem that could be getting worse, and potentially more expensive, but you do anyways out of fear. Plus you just don’t have the time to deal with it right now because you have too much else going on, too many loose ends.
Bad loose ends are not something we think about “all the time”. Usually we remind ourselves about bad loose ends when there are fewer distractions (or no distractions), thus the loose ends never give us a chance to relax. This can create a tremendous amount of stress for us.
