Remember the excitement you felt when you launched headfirst into your latest project?

Every door was open and the opportunities were endless.

But then, if youre like most people, you start to stumble near the finish line.

And all that momentum and drive that got you to that spot seems to just disappear.

This post originally appeared on theCrew blog.

So many of us get stuck at 90%.

We get trapped in asking what will people think of us?

What will happen if we get to 100% and fail?

What if we finish a project and arent immediately swimming through money like Scrooge McDuck?

But we cant wrack it all up to pressure.

Hitting the 90% wall has a lot to do with our dwindling attention spans.

We live in a completely distracted society, so how can we possibly expect to finish our work?

As a serial project finisher, this has been instrumental thinking for me over the years.

Go ahead and write that list.

isnt rocket science, but you better believe we can learn a thing or two from rocket scientists.

A rocket scientist cant just build a rocket, they have to start by building each component.

The sum of the completion of all those parts leads to a rocket.

And yes, I had to Google how to build a rocket.

But the same thinking should be applied to whatever youre working on.

Dont focus on any large items.

Focus on much smaller items that you’ve got the option to complete one-by-one.

Its helpful to write down individual to-do lists for individual parts of a project.

The smaller and more mundane the items are on your lists, the easier they are to scratch off.

I used to struggle with to-do lists.

But once I tried a few different things, I found a method that worked for me.

Instead of using a fancy app, I use good ol pen and paper.

Each day I write out that days to-do items and break them down into the smallest tasks possible.

The task of rewriting to-dos became my least favorite part of the day.

I finally broke my habit of letting tasks carry over each day and it only took about 30 days.

When all your small to-do lists are done, you should have a fully functioning rocket!

Whatever youre working on.

We have survival instincts.

Whenever we start working on something, its hard for us to stop.

Its just our nature.

I envision some part of our brain saying get this thing done before a sabertooth tiger eats us!

But we dont live in survival mode anymore.

Weve all been there: An approaching deadline.

Too much work to be done.

Sleepless nights and copious amounts of caffeine help us reach a mediocre finish line.

This isnt the way work has to be done if you plan to pace yourself.

In 2014 I had a hard deadline for my book launch (my birthday, May 15).

As May 15 crept closer and closer I realized it just wasnt going to happen.

(Of course, being able to move your deadlines also depends on your vocation.)

Build a plan for your project and be disciplined in your (small) daily work.

Breaks Are Essential

Piggy-backing off of pacing, you must remember to take breaks.

These breaks are not breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Personally I find that nature provides the absolute best brain-refueling.

I leave all technology behind and I go on a walk or a hike.

I take time to enjoy my surroundings and breath deeply.

For some, this might be meditation.

For me, I look at it as releasing my tension and stress out into the world.

In my routine theres one small caveat when I say I leave all technology behind.

I bought aGarmin Vivosmartactivity band for the sole purpose of its inactivity alarm feature.

And when I need to focus for a longer period of time?

I just take it off and leave it on my desk.

The last one is a nice little trick that works wonders.

Take time to write an email to yourself that encourages you to keep going!

and schedule this email to arrive a week or two before your deadline.

Your own encouraging words can give you that extra nudge.

It takes a little bit of grit.

It takes a little bit of courage.

It takes digging deep and pushing through the moments of wanting to quit.

This comes with experience.

If you answer was discipline, read this article again.

Image byTitima Ongkantong(Shutterstock).