Start Finishing

How to Go from Idea to Done

By: Charlie Gilkey

Narrated by: Charlie Gilkey

Productivity Meets Purpose - Discover a Powerful Nine-Step Method to Start Finishing the Work That Matters Most

How much of your time and attention lately has been focused on things that truly matter to you?

Most people's honest answer is: not enough.

Everyone is buried by busywork, responsibility, distraction, and fatigue.

The joy-producing, difference-making ideas are waiting for when the time is right, when the current project is over, when they have a little more money, when the kids are grown, or when they get a more understanding boss. They are waiting for someday.

The trouble is someday never comes on its own.

Start Finishing presents a nine-step method for converting an idea into a project by addressing the challenges you'll face and getting the project on a reality-based schedule.

The book will teach you how to:

• Practice the five keys that lead to self-mastery
• Build your success pack of supporters, guides, peers, and beneficiaries
• Keep working through the thrashing that comes with any project that matters to you
• Chunk, link, and sequence your ideas down to doable parts
• Use the Five Project Rule to prioritize your daily schedule and be at peace with the work you choose not to do
• Fly through drag points - how to deal with head trash, no-win scenarios, and other people’s priorities
• Heatmap your schedule so you do the right work at the right time
• Overcome cascades, logjams, and tarpits - the three ways projects routinely get stuck
• Finish strong - celebrate, review, and ride the momentum to your next goal

You are not incapable, wired to struggle, or fated to be unable to get your act together. With a few key steps, you can change the way you show up, how you plan, and how you respond when things get tough.

You can Start Finishing the work that matters most to you.

*Includes original contributions from Seth Godin, Susan Piver, Jonathan Fields, James Clear, and many other teachers.

©2019 Charlie Gilkey (P)2019 Sounds True

Critic reviews

“Charlie Gilkey knows you have little trouble beginning new projects. But finishing them? That’s often another story. The good news is that Gilkey is here to help. His terrific book offers a 9-step program to turn those great ideas into finished products - and your dreams into realities.” (Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and When)

“Just like our houses, our work is filled with clutter that’s keeping us from what matters most. Start Finishing shows us how to pick the ideas and projects that we want to keep and work through seeing them to completion. If you’re ready to get over the clutter of busywork and do the work that’ll make you come alive, get this book and start finishing.” (Joshua Becker, founder of Becoming Minimalist and author of The Minimalist Home)

“Big dreams can feel overwhelming, but in this encouraging book, Charlie shows you how to get started, plan your projects, and just keep going. You don’t find the time, you make the time - and Charlie will show you how.” (Laura Vanderkam, bestselling author of Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done and Juliet's School of Possibilities)

Good tips, practical

I found this book very engaging and easy to listen to. It was action oriented and concise.

Loved it

I really like this books gives you guidelines and ideas also helps me to divide things out and decide which is most important .

Excellent motivational

Well done book with a lot of truth and action steps to help people on every level of growth.
Worth the money and time.

from theory to tactics, most useful book yet

I can't say enough about Charlie Gilkey's Start...Finishing though it is not the book I expected and that's a very good thing.

In the personal development genre, there seem to be a majority of books that present an interesting theory, very well articulated, that then under delivers as a usable program for executing that theory. Often times, this a function of an idea that doesn't translate into anything new on the execution side or an author who is not in the practice of doing the practice of delivering, certainly not at the level where they are masters of delivery. Often they are masters of teaching others to deliver.

This is not one of those books.

Charlie Gilkey has much practice in the approach he recommends. This book is a manual that presents a a solid, distinct methodology for getting your most important work done. It is based on years of Gilkey using this approach himself and he is the first one to point out where he has faced challenges in execution and where you should watch out as well. This book is dense from start to finish. There is humility in Gilkey's approach and he speaks often of the practical challenges of being over committed. Not in a preachy sort of way, but rather by showing what it looks like to add new goals on top of what you are already committed to.

If there is one critique, is that maybe this material is better presented visually, rather than in an audiobook. Still, I find this format easy to consume, especially when I want to revisit a topic.

Think of this as a workbook within a textbook, with references and links to free templates.

Well worth the investment,

Simply Amazing!

Holy smokes, this book is amaze-balls! I bought the Kindle version and then I bought the audiobook because it was that good! I gave both of those 5 Star reviews.

Charlie has tons of practical tips on how to do effective project management. He literally has pretty much thought of almost every single situation and tells you how to deal with it. This book is like the Swiss Army knife for project managers.

I work full time for a nonprofit and I also own my own business. I am constantly juggling many projects in both areas. This book has helped me out tremendously in both of my workplaces.

I'm glad I started finishing!

Many useful techniques and ideas. Seems like common sense in hindsight but needed the ideas first!
JimmyG

Great productive read

This book is more than just a project management book. It’s a life improvement book. The idea of blocking 120 minutes of time for getting stuff done is a game changer. I got both the paperback and audio versions of the book. It’s a great read!

It encompasses all aspects of we are

Charlie’s book enmpaases all aspects of we are in relationship to what we create and how we want to contribute to this world.
I’ve always look for a structure or support that will allow me to see.
Thank you for a fantastic book Charlie.
I have both physical and audio copy to guide me through my projects.

Lots of workable ideas here ..

Full disclosure: I have met the author a few times through a charity that we both support and I have heard him speak, so when this book came out I was really interested. I also have listened to his podcast Productive Flourishing for years.

This book is broken down into the 3 sections. The middle section is focused on the calendar system that Charlie promotes which I have heard him speak on before so was not a big surprise to me.(hard to know if this was a new idea for other or not)
For me I really liked the beginning and the end sections and really took away several things that will positively affect my work and life..

One of the big things that I took away is to finish things, we have to be willing to let go of things that are not done. I am a professor so that is the hardest, incomplete projects roll around forever and bring us lots of guilt and truly interrupt what we will we can get done by sapping our energy. Others have told me let that project or this project go, but it did not click for me until the way it was presented in this book. The parts about setting priorities were the most useful to me and made this book worth every penny to me.

Other parts that spoke to me: Planning for success not avoiding failure, and also the importance of start dates - new projects languish without a date where activity will start..
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This may be a collection of ideas that are in other books, but I have read 2 other books on finishing and honestly did not take anything away from them. So if finishing projects is an issue for you, I think you may find useful ideas here

I enjoy a business book or relationship book on long drives and this was a good fit for me. I have recommended to others both in print and in audio

The Impact of this book immeasurable

I can write an essay on how life changing this book is. I will just summarize. If I had this book when I was younger, I feel an infinite amount of my potential and the subsequent impact to my family, friends, and community could of been realized. Although that's frustrating, I'm thankful that this book has given me the opportunity to fulfill both starting today. Enjoy!