How to get things done
Alenka's room looked like a museum of unfinished ideas. On the table was a puzzle: the horse's head was already assembled, the neck was almost there, but everything else was still lying in a pile of three hundred pieces. On the sheet of paper near the pencils was a flower: three petals were drawn, the fourth was not. On the windowsill was a plasticine lump that was supposed to become a hare, but for now it resembled a question mark.
"I can't finish anything," said Alenka and sat down directly on the floor, among the puzzle pieces.
“Prove at least one thing,” Mom said from behind the door. “Anything.”.
Alenka looked at the puzzle. Then at the flower. Then at the plasticine bunny-question mark. She sighed.
Then the curtain moved. A little owl in glasses, Sofiyka, peeked out from behind it. Next to her, a squirrel, Solomiyka, jumped onto the windowsill, held an acorn to her chest, and looked around the room carefully.
"It's interesting what you have here," said Solomiyka. "So many things have been started!"
"But nothing is finished," Alenka grumbled.
"That's exactly what we're going to talk about," said Sofiyka and adjusted her glasses.
🦉 Lesson from Sofiyka
1. Unfinished business doesn't count.
Imagine you are carrying a basket of apples through the forest. You go halfway and throw the basket away and go back. You come home without any apples. It's the same with any job: only the work that brings joy is the one that is brought to the end. An unfinished puzzle is not a puzzle. An unfinished drawing is not a drawing. They are just waiting.
2. «It doesn’t work out» is not a sentence, but a middle ground
When something is difficult, it's okay. That's learning. Difficulties don't say "stop," they say "you're almost there.".
— You know, I once dug for a nut all day and thought: «Where is it anyway?!» And then I dug some more - and there it is! A nut!« — she held up her acorn. — »It doesn’t work” means you’re not finished yet. No more.
3. Choose one thing, not three.
When you take on a puzzle, a drawing, and plasticine at once, your attention scatters like sparrows from a cat. The brain doesn't know what to do and gets tired before anything can be accomplished. It's better to take on one task and do it from start to finish. Then rest. Then the next one.
4. A small step is still a step
You don't have to do everything at once. A puzzle of three hundred pieces doesn't take a minute to put together. But if you add a few pieces each time, eventually the horse will appear complete: with a body, a tail, and even hooves. Every small step brings you closer to the end.
"I hide one nut every day! Imagine how many there are in a week! That's a whole treasure trove!"
5. When it's over, celebrate.
When you finish a task, you have the right to be proud. Not because it turned out perfectly, but because you didn't give up. You can look at the finished drawing and say to yourself: "I did that." It's a special feeling, and it's only for those who finish it.
6. Abandoned work does not disappear - it drags on
Unfinished things are like little hooks. They cling and remind you of themselves: «What about me? What about me?» And it makes you feel awkward. On the other hand, a completed task lets you go. It says: «That’s it, I’m done. Well done.» And it becomes easier.
7. Try again — just a little longer
The next time you feel like quitting, stop and count to ten. Then take another small step. Just one more. Often, the hardest part is when you feel like quitting. But once you get past that, it’s much easier to keep going.
Olenka said quietly, "I'm not a failure. I just don't finish.".
"This is a big discovery," replied Sofiyka.
They sat down together—Olenka, Sofiyka, and Solomiyka—and began to put together the puzzle. Piece by piece. The horse appeared gradually: first the neck, then the body, then the tail, then the hooves.
When the last piece fell into place, Olenka exhaled and smiled.
"Tomorrow — a drawing!" she said. She took a pencil and drew the third petal.
Sofiyka believes in you. And Solomiyka too. 🦉🐿️