Why do I keep redoing work that's already finished?

Finished work will not stay finished for you. Things that are done and dusted reopen in your mind because they could be just a little better, and you lose hours polishing what no one was waiting on. The urge feels like conscientiousness, but notice what it actually costs: time, energy, and the peace of ever being done. The truth underneath is that a little better has no floor. There is always one more improvement available, so if that is your signal to reopen a task, nothing is ever truly complete. This is not really about the work reaching some objective standard; it is about a discomfort with letting go, and the work becomes the place that discomfort plays out. So practice the skill of done. Before you start something, decide what finished means for it, the standard that is genuinely good enough, and when you hit it, stop, even though you can feel further improvements beckoning. Let one thing be complete and imperfect this week and move your attention on. The goal is not worse work. It is learning that good enough, actually finished, is worth more than a little better, forever unfinished.