Halfway Done? Let AI Help You Finish It
When your motivation fizzles near the finish line, this prompt helps you wrap it up — or close it gently.
The Executive Dysfunction: Inconsistent Follow-Through
ADHDers often start with energy but lose momentum fast. Without novelty or feedback, even interesting tasks stall out. The further you go, the harder it gets to remember why you cared.
That abandoned doc? Half-written. That project? Missing the last 10%. Your brain says, “We already failed.”
Common Non-AI Workaround
Some people push harder. Others start over. Sometimes, you tell yourself you’ll finish it tomorrow — which becomes next week. Eventually, the friction outweighs the reward.
What’s missing isn’t effort. It’s scaffolding for completion.
How AI Can Help
AI doesn’t just start things — it can help you land them. With the right prompt, you can:
Summarize what’s already done
Identify what’s still needed
Choose between finishing, simplifying, or letting go
You don’t need motivation. You need a closing structure.
Suggested Prompt:
“Here’s something I started. Can you help me figure out what’s already done, what’s still needed, and how I can either finish it or wrap it up simply?”
Example Use (Dex’s Project Pile)
Dex has a half-finished blog post. He opens it, sighs, then pastes the content into chat.
He types:
“Can you help me close this? I don’t know if it’s worth finishing but I want to stop thinking about it.”
AI replies:
“Sure. Here’s what I see:
The intro and main idea are strong.
It lacks a conclusion and one key supporting point.
Option A: Write a simple 3-sentence ending and publish as-is.
Option B: Save this as a series seed — create a summary paragraph and schedule follow-up later.
Either way, we get closure.”
Dex finishes it. Not perfectly. But fully.
When to Use This Prompt:
You’ve been circling a half-done project for too long
You feel like it’s “almost there” but can’t push through
You want to stop carrying the mental weight of it
Tips to Improve This Prompt:
Add emotional tone: “I’m tired of looking at this,” or “I need closure”
Name your intention: “I want to publish,” “I want to archive,” or “I want to stop overthinking this”
Ask for output options: “Give me 2 ways I could wrap this up”
Include format: “It’s a blog post,” “It’s a design doc,” “It’s a message I never sent”
Level Up:
“Can you help me build a repeatable finish-up script I can use whenever I stall near the end?”
When This Prompt Doesn’t Work:
If you’ve lost all clarity — use a clarity prompt first
If it’s tied to perfectionism — use a “good enough” or values-based decision prompt first
Copyable Prompt:
“Here’s something I started. Can you help me figure out what’s already done, what’s still needed, and how I can either finish it or wrap it up simply?”