By the time we finish most of a project, we’re ready to move on.
We’re tired, bored, and sometimes rushed; so we just want it to be done.
But that’s a huge mistake. The finishing touches have a disproportionate impact on the final product.
Take my basement renovation for example.
The vast majority of the time and effort went into prep work – taking apart the previous homeowner’s work, cleaning up mold, reshaping the landscaping to prevent moisture issues, burying downspouts, re-doing electrical, building wall frames…
Only after months of effort did I finally get to start on the ceiling, walls, and floor (the first visible bits of
But only after that was all taken care of and I began working on furnishings, trim, and moulding did I realize how skewed the impact was.
No one will ever see the prep work. It was necessary, but it does virtually nothing to affect the final outcome.
The base wall and floor structures moved the needle, but not as far as I had expected.
But once the finishing touches started
It would’ve been easy to stop early.
It’s tempting to rush a paint job, or to lose the attention to detail when the project is so close to being complete.
But doing that sacrifices all of the previous work.
No matter how tired you are, the right way to end a race is running through the finish line.
-Brandon