Stop in the Middle: a time management technique to get you started again

This time management technique is a trick I learned from my sister, who's a novelist. She found that if she stops writing at the end of a sentence, and especially at the end of a paragraph, she often comes back to her writing with no idea where she was going with that. But if she stops in the middle of a sentence, it's obvious how the sentence has to finish. And by the time she's written the rest of the sentence, she can remember the rest of what she wanted to say.

Similarly, while writing this website, I make sure that I have my HTML editor open on the page I want to work on when I come back and then I go take a break. It's much easier to come back and find my work already there waiting for me.

For some reason, incomplete tasks stick in our mind better than complete ones. Reaching a stopping point makes it harder to get started again. So sometimes it's better to quit work for the day in the middle of a project. When you get back in tomorrow morning, you'll be able to just jump right back into working.

Doesn't sound like you? Go back to Time Management Hacks and look for a time management technique that fits you better.