Redefining "Done"

What does it mean when you say "I'm done eating"? Is your plate empty? Or is it that you already feel full, even though there is still some food left? When would you say "I'm done with that book"? Is it when you've read every word from the first page to the last one? Is it when you retain more than 30% of the information? Is it when you pass the exam? Or is it maybe when you stop thinking about it?
How about being done with your coffee? Is it that the mug is empty? The coffee is cold? You've had enough caffeine for the day? Or maybe you just feel satisfied and don't want any more? When are you "done" learning, studying, thinking...

...or you know what? ...

When are you done with life? Is it when you're dead? Or when you give up on life? Or...?

The internal vs. the external "Done"

Think about it. Most of the time, we are serving two different masters:

• On one hand, we have the "external Done"; it's a huge list of goals set by our surroundings: finishing school, finding a job, paying bills, settling a loan, being done with your workday at 5:00 p.m., etc. This version of done is measurable, imposed on us, defined by someone or something else.
• On the other hand, you have the "internal Done", which is more magical and sometimes harder to identify: it's the "aha moment" when we finally understand something, it's the deep breath of satisfaction, it's the moment your brain tells you: "This is it."

One of the main conflicts of this life is the battle between these two masters. We spend our time trying to meet expectations, satisfying our surroundings' definitions of "finished," and ticking boxes on the never ending list of "external done", all while ignoring the internal screaming voice asking us not to forget the internal list.
We sometimes even let the external world make us question our "internal done." Should everything I do align with what everyone expects? With what everyone wants? With how people around me define "done"?

Imagine your life is a room. For decades, it’s filled with the furniture and noise of the external "Done" list: Office tasks, deadlines, expectations, social duties, etc. The voice of your internal "Done" is in there, but it’s just one sound among many... it's easy to ignore. But what happens when the external list is finally checked off? When you retire, when no one expects much from you, when the big loan is paid...? The furniture is removed, the distraction disappears... Suddenly, you're standing in an empty room, you and your inner voice alone, and in that deafening silence, the internal voice you’ve ignored for years doesn't just speak...it SCREAMS, with the echo of every ignored passion, every unfulfilled curiosity, every moment you chose a checklist over a feeling of completion.

Done as a spectrum, not a switch

How many times have you abandoned some idea and never worked on it because you felt it's not "up to standard"? How many times have you abandoned a project because the path to a "finished" version was longer than you were willing to walk?
In the software engineering world, the external "done" is king! It means production ready, it means tested, deployed, scalable, and ready for users to use... It's an exhausting definition, and it's the reason countless projects die in private GitHub repos, labeled as failures. We look at our barely working projects and hear the external world ask, "Are you done with that thing yet?" ... and how many times have we said "no" just because it was not "done"?

In this article, I invite you to see this as a failure of definition, not a failure of effort. While creating products to serve others is a noble and needed mission, it doesn't have to be everyone's mission.

This mindset extends far beyond a developer's computer. Think of the guitarist who learns a few chords, not to play on a stage, but just to sing a favorite song to themselves in the comfort of their room. For them, "done" is the moment the melody feels right.
Think of that person who obsesses over making the best pizza dough, not to open a restaurant, but for the sole reason of preparing their perfect dinner before their favorite show starts. Think of the painter whose painting will never hang in a gallery, but who feels a deep sense of satisfaction when they pass by the wall where it's hanging in their home.

None of these pursuits are measured by industry standards or an audience's applause. Their value is not in their external polish, but in their internal purpose. They don't exist to be "finished" for the world, but to feel "finished" for the individual.
You are the one who defines when something is done:

• Done is when curiosity is satisfied: You started because you were curious, you got what you wanted, and now you're done!
• Done is when the lesson is learned: You started because you wanted to learn something, you learned it, and now you're done!
• Done is when the joy fades: You started because it was fun and interesting, but maybe it no longer is. Well, now you know, and you're done!
• Done is when the concept is proven: You wanted to make a point, so you created a minimal proof of concept, and now you're done!

What if we looked at our private repositories not as a graveyard of failed projects, but as a library of a curiosity driven journey?

The finish line is movable

We often hear the expression that life is a "race with time." The problem is that the word "race" alone already puts a lot of pressure on us, and while this could be true in some specific situations, it's disastrous if we treat everything like that.
What if, instead, it was an exploration? A race demands you follow a predefined map to a fixed finish line, while an exploration simply gives you a compass... a direction... and the freedom to find what is meaningful along the way. This means you are in control; you can move the finish line further away when a journey brings you unexpected joy. You can choose to end it and change direction the moment it no longer serves your curiosity. The power isn't in reaching a pre-determined end; it's in choosing where that end is.

History has proven the power of this mindset: Alexander Fleming wasn't racing to find a cure; he was exploring bacteria when he stumbled upon penicillin. Percy Spencer wasn't trying to invent a new device; he was studying radar technology when a candy bar melted in his pocket due to microwave radiation, leading to the invention of microwaves. Newton didn't plan for the apple to fall from the tree when he discovered gravity, and Linus Torvalds made it clear when announcing Linux that it was nothing but a hobby project when he started. These discoveries and inventions happened not because someone won a race or planned the finish line from the beginning, but because they had the curiosity to investigate an unexpected turn in the path.