Finishing what I start

I'm trying to slowly work up to the New Improved Me (tm). Today's focus is on finishing what I start—a notoriously weak area for me. I tend to go off in fifteen different directions at once; I thrive on multitasking. The problem, though, is that very few (or sometimes none!) of those things that I start simultaneously ever get done, and I'm not good at going back and working incrementally on the outstanding items until I can check them off the list. (I'm much better at just making newer and ostensibly better lists.)

So today I'm trying to make sure I close the loop on the things I have to do around the house. (Yes, it's a way to procrastinate on the more difficult tasks I have to do—such as working on my thesis proposal and tackling some stuff for work—but I'm trying to start with the little things and gain momentum from there.)

The other thing I'm working on is to constantly refer back to the list of tasks I have in Things, and to make sure that those tasks are doable items and not amorphous tasks like "finish thesis proposal" or "clean house."

Two (interesting!) recent articles on the topic of productivity:

Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek (Wired)
New Year, New You? Nice Try (The New York Times)