The Snapshot

The Problem: A graveyard of drafts, half-formed strategies, and 90%-finished projects that never actually go live.

The Fix: The Reality Filter — A clear-eyed audit to ensure you actually finish what you start.

The Result: Fewer in-progress tasks and more completed assets that actually work for your business.

The Insight

In a world with AI, starting has never been cheaper—you can generate a frame for a project in seconds. But a project that is nearly done provides zero value. If you have ten articles at 90% completion, you effectively have nothing published. You are paying the cognitive tax of an open project without getting any of the ROI. The most productive thing you can do for your marketing isn't to have a new idea; it’s to finish an old one.

The Method: The Reality Filter

1. Conduct an Inventory

List every single content project that is currently in progress. Be honest. Include the half-written LinkedIn posts, the started whitepapers, and the strategy decks that haven't been touched in two weeks. If it isn't live, it is unfinished.

2. Calculate the Last Mile Effort

Before you open a new document for a fresh idea, look at your existing inventory. For each item, ask: What is the exact last-mile effort required to make this public? Does it need a final edit? An approval? A graphic? If a piece is close to the finish line, completing it is always more valuable than starting something new from zero.

3. Implement a No-New-Starts Rule

Pick the three projects closest to the finish line and commit to completing them before you open a single new document. If a new idea strikes, put it in a ‘Later’ folder. You aren't allowed to start something fresh until the work you’ve already invested in is out the door.

Source: Adapted from 4 Reasons That Content Advice Won’t Work for You on Medium.