Finish Rates Over Inspiration

Inspiration is a weather report

Weather is real. You do not build a practice on forecasts. Finish rate is the percentage of started pieces that reach a definition of done you wrote down in advance.

If you cannot say what done means, you cannot have a finish rate. You only have vibes.

A boring definition of done

Examples that work: bounced stereo, sent to the collaborator, printed lyric with cuts, invoice paid, lesson plan in the folder. Examples that do not: feels finished, would play for my heroes, ready for a poster about purpose.

Systems, not moods

• Keep a finish log with dates. Thirty days is enough to see a pattern.
• Shrink the definition until you can close something this week.
• Separate exploration sessions from closing sessions. Both are craft. They are not the same calendar rectangle.