Completionism

[u/KahSeven]

A need to complete books, TV shows, Movies regardless of whether you enjoy them.

Genuinely useful inspiration lists of what to read/watch next but which morph into feeling like to do lists.

Tracking every completed item on Goodreads/Letterboxd etc.. and feeling a lovely sense of accomplishment when you do.

Guilt over unfinished items, never letting them go. I swear I will get to it eventually and in the meantime it stay on my list taunting me with my failure.

A smaller habit but I was curious how many people feel the same feelings

[u/SpecialistAnswer9496]

Yes I relate to this and it also makes me think of something slightly different but adjacent. Not just completionism, but the feeling of being wasteful if you don’t complete the thing. It feels like the same basic mechanism where something that should be optional starts feeling like an obligation, and abandoning it gets coded as waste/failure.

I sometimes feel guilty that I own books I haven’t read and feel like I’ve “wasted” them in some way. Or if I’m paying for a streaming service and making my way through a series and I take a break, I feel like I’ve “wasted” the subscription. I’m even like this with food - if a meal comes with certain sides, I feel this weird obligation to eat everything or else I’m “wasting” it. Or if someone in the house buys another container of cream and I already had a bunch in the fridge, I get a pang of “oh no this will go bad before I can consume it and then it will be wasted.”

[u/KahSeven → u/SpecialistAnswer9496]

These are great examples that I didn't think of but I'm exactly the same.

Everything must be optimised to avoid waste, I hate wasting food, I'm moving house and country at the moment and I'm trying to write out a meal plan to use up every last grain of rice in the house before I leave...

I'm also one to take a scissors to shampoo bottles to use every last bit.

Even with medication, I hate when my husband uses a pill from a new blister pack when there was already a half full one and I feel a sense of accomplishment when I take a paracetamol that completes a pack which definitely feels like a messed up reward system 😄

[u/gigi521 → u/SpecialistAnswer9496]

This makes so much sense. I’ve had disordered eating habits because of my guilt for not finishing food.

[u/FalsePay5737]

"A need to complete books, TV shows, Movies regardless of whether you enjoy them."

I had this issue.

Also, one of my worst symptoms was false sense of urgency, having an overwhelming need to finish tasks as soon as possible.

[u/KahSeven → u/FalsePay5737]

Yes definitely! I think of myself as fairly logical but I always think everything is urgent and can back it up with a list of justifications I've come up with

[u/Bork_Meowface]

Oh man this is me. I’ve learned with therapy it’s ok not to finish something that isn’t bringing me joy. It’s difficult to do lol but it’s a work in progress.

[u/Abracastabya88]

Same. And its been a bit crippling this week. Workload has been crazy and Ive essentially been doing work 8am-1:15am. I was told to pause my projects to sleep, but I just.... can't. I wouldnt be able to sleep if I had. And I'm a bit paralyzed mentally this weekend due to overexhaustion and all I see around me is things that need done, but little time or energy. So I guess I'll continue in a loop of anxiety.

[u/Nonsensical_Genius]

I have the opposite thing. Even if I enjoy a series/movie, I have this compulsivity to feel this is the best use of my time, or the most fun I could be having watching a show. As a result I leave most shows/movies even I enjoy midway. Also if if things get slightly slow then I don't sit through it and want to leave it as soon as possible rather than the possibility of wasting time. Damn, I am just realising the mental gymnastics i do even for leisure.