Have you ever started a job that you can't finish? You may begin the job for many reasons. First, it may be a job that you think has to be done. Or, it could be a job you think will raise your reputation, income, or popularity. Whatever the rationale for why you started the job, in time, you realize that you simply cannot complete the task. What do you do then?
There's no simple solution to this dilemma. If you start a job that you believe has to be done and you can't finish it, you're left with figuring out how to finish that important task in some way. Perhaps you have to hire someone else to do the job? Perhaps you just take a break from the task for a while? Or you might try to gain the skill or resources needed to complete the job. If it's a job you've taken to raise your reputation, income, or popularity, then you have to decide how you'll succeed from the task gracefully or replace the task with another job that will fulfill your needs in those arenas.
Recently I took on a task that I couldn't finish. It was an important task and I left it for someone else to do. Yet, in time, I realized that I had to jump back onboard to try to get the difficult task done. It clearly was not a task for one person, but instead a job for many including me. Time off gave me perspective which was good, but time off also lost some precious time which was not so good. It's not time to lament the losses, but instead reap the rewards of new perspective and the fact that it's a job I can invest in by doing my part and working as a positive member of the team.
As I think back to jobs undone in life, probably the most regrettable was not completing my doctorate degree. At the time, I could see no way to find the time or finances to complete the task. I was pulled in multiple directions with little encouragement for seeing the degree through. In hindsight, I wish I hired a little more help to care for my child to buy time to complete the program. At that time, however, the cost of childcare seemed prohibitive and I also didn't want to lose precious moments with my first child. Now, I realize, it would have been a better long term gift to my child to get that degree. That said, in the end, no one was greatly hurt by my decision, and what I lost was a bit more professional capacity, confidence, and dollars, but little else.
Most jobs in life I've left undone, I've eventually returned to and completed in some way. I mainly left those jobs due to to a lack of energy, time, or resources, but since I was committed to those tasks, I usually returned and in time, completed the job.
Some people don't complete a job, but continue to make people think that they're doing the job. That's a destructive way to deal with a job undone since if it's an important job, time and capacity are lost while you're pretending to do the job, but not doing it all. This strikes at the potential the job holds. Some might also complete the job without the needed steps leaving the job done in haphazard, unsuccessful way that ends up costing more money and time later on. At times, jobs that are not well done can cause harm to people too.
If you can't do a job, it's best to be upfront to yourself and others about it. It's okay to simply say, I can't do the job. That leaves the door open for someone else to step in or to simply leave the job undone for a while instead if that's not a problem.
We all face commitments we can't keep from time to time--when these commitments are jobs we cannot do, we have to face the facts that we signed up for more than we can do. That happens. Onward.