You know that feeling when you check a task off your list, but then it comes back to haunt you two days later? Maybe it was a bug that wasn't actually fixed. Or a report that lacked the necessary formatting for the board meeting. You thought it was finished. It wasn't. This is why high-performance teams, from software engineers at Google to logistical planners at Amazon, have moved toward a philosophy of being done done done.
It’s a weird phrase.
Honestly, it sounds redundant. But in the world of project management and personal productivity, those three words carry the weight of actual completion versus the illusion of progress. Most people stop at "done." They did the thing. The task is off the desk. But "done done done" implies a level of verification, documentation, and hand-off that ensures a task never has to be looked at again. It is the graveyard for "to-do" items.
What People Get Wrong About Finishing Tasks
Most of us operate on a binary system. Is it done? Yes or no. But that’s a trap.
In professional environments, especially those utilizing Agile or Scrum methodologies, "Done" usually just means the code is written. But "Done Done" might mean it’s been peer-reviewed and tested. Adding that third "Done" is where the magic happens—it means the end user has it, it's documented, and the feedback loop is closed.
Think about it this way.
If you're fixing a leak in a pipe, "Done" is stopping the water. "Done Done" is drying the floor and putting the tools away. "Done Done Done" is calling the homeowner two days later to make sure there are no new drips and filing the warranty paperwork.
Most companies lose thousands of hours every year because employees are only doing the first "done." They leave a trail of "almost finished" tasks that require follow-up emails, "quick syncs," and status updates. It’s a productivity killer. When Jeff Sutherland, one of the creators of Scrum, talks about the "Definition of Done," he’s trying to eliminate the waste created by half-baked work.
The reality is that we are biologically wired to want that hit of dopamine that comes from checking a box. We want it fast. So, we rush the ending. We skip the boring parts—the documentation, the double-check, the "polishing" phase. We satisfy the lizard brain, but we screw over our future selves.
The Three Layers of Real Completion
To actually implement this, you have to break down what each layer represents. It's not just a cute saying; it's a workflow.
The first layer is Execution. This is the meat of the work. If you’re a writer, this is the first draft. If you’re a coder, it’s the functional script. It works, mostly. It exists. If you stopped here, you’d be like most people. You’d also be wrong.
The second layer is Validation. This is where you put your ego aside and look for holes. It’s the self-edit. It’s running the unit tests. It’s asking, "Does this actually meet the requirements I was given?" In a business context, this often involves a "Definition of Done" (DoD) checklist. According to a study by the Standish Group, projects that have clearly defined completion criteria are significantly more likely to succeed than those that fly by the seat of their pants.
Then there is the third layer: The Hand-off.
This is the one everyone forgets. Who needs to know this is finished? Does the client have the link? Is the file in the shared folder or just sitting on your desktop? Is there a "Readme" file?
If you finish a project but nobody knows how to use it or where to find it, you haven't actually finished anything. You’ve just created a secret.
Why Your Brain Hates the Third Done
It’s boring. That’s the truth.
The last 10% of a project takes 50% of the emotional energy. We get "project fatigue." We’re ready to move on to the shiny new thing. This is why so many houses have unfinished baseboards or why so many apps have "Coming Soon" pages that stay up for three years.
To beat this, you have to treat the "finishing" as a separate task entirely. Don’t include the documentation in the "write the report" task. Make "upload and notify stakeholders" its own discrete item. When you separate the craft from the administration, you give yourself permission to focus on each.
Real World Examples of the Framework
Let’s look at a marketing agency. They’re running an ad campaign.
- Done: The ads are designed and the copy is written.
- Done Done: The ads are uploaded to the platform, the tracking pixels are verified, and the budget is set.
- Done Done Done: The client has received a confirmation email with a link to the live dashboard, and a calendar invite is sent for the mid-campaign review.
Notice the difference? The first one is a creative act. The second is a technical act. The third is a professional act.
If the agency stops at "Done," the ads don't run. If they stop at "Done Done," the client is calling them every hour asking "Is it live yet?" only for the agency to say "Yes" and then have to spend time explaining where to look. By getting to the third level, the agency has proactively eliminated future work.
This applies to home life too. Honestly.
Cooking dinner.
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- Done: The food is on the plate.
- Done Done: The kitchen is clean and the leftovers are in the fridge.
- Done Done Done: The dishwasher is running and you know what you're making for lunch tomorrow.
If you only do the first "done," you wake up to a sticky kitchen and a stressful morning. The "done done done" approach is essentially an act of kindness to your future self.
The Cost of the "Almost Finished" Trap
There is a psychological concept called the Zeigarnik Effect. It suggests that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks.
When you have twenty things that are "almost done," your brain stays in a state of high cognitive load. You're constantly scanning, worrying, and remembering. "Oh, I need to send that file." "Wait, did I check the spelling on that?"
This creates a background hum of anxiety.
By pushing through to the third "done," you effectively clear that task from your mental RAM. You give your brain permission to forget it. Research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has shown that while unfinished tasks distract us, simply making a specific plan to finish them can free us from that cognitive burden. But actually finishing them? That’s the ultimate mental reset.
How to Build a "Done Done Done" Culture
If you're leading a team, you can't just tell people to "work harder." You have to change the definition of success.
Stop rewarding speed if the speed results in "undone" work.
In many high-growth startups, there's a "move fast and break things" mentality. That’s fine for some things. But if you’re breaking the same things over and over because nobody is finishing the job, you aren't moving fast—you're just vibrating in place.
Create a shared Definition of Done. Literally write it down. Put it on a Confluence page or a Google Doc. Everyone on the team should know that a task isn't "closed" until X, Y, and Z happen.
The "No-Go" Review. Before a project is marked as complete, have a peer check it. Not for the quality of the work (that’s the second done), but for the "completeness" of the delivery. Did they include the assets? Is the folder structured correctly?
Celebrate the "Last Mile." We always cheer for the big launch. We rarely cheer for the person who spent four hours cleaning up the documentation after the launch. Change that. Acknowledge the "boring" work that makes the "exciting" work sustainable.
Kill the "90% Done" Status. In your status meetings, don't allow "90%." It's either done done done, or it's in progress. There is no middle ground. As soon as you allow for "almost there," you've given people an out to stop before the finish line.
Actionable Steps to Master the Framework
If you want to start living this way today, you don't need a new app. You need a new standard.
- Audit your current list: Look at every task you've "finished" in the last 48 hours. Is there any lingering thread? Any person who doesn't know it's done? Any file that isn't where it belongs? Go fix those now.
- The "Two-Minute Polish": Before you close a laptop or move to a new task, spend exactly 120 seconds doing the "admin" of the task you just finished. Send the "it's live" Slack message. Move the file to the archive. Delete the temporary notes.
- Build your personal checklist: For your specific job, what does the third "done" look like? If you're a teacher, it might be "Grades entered, papers returned, and lesson plan updated for next year." If you're a salesperson, it's "CRM updated, follow-up set, and thank you note sent."
The difference between a pro and an amateur isn't just the quality of the work; it's the quality of the completion. Amateurs leave a mess. Pros leave a finished product that stands on its own.
Stop checking boxes and start finishing. You'll find that you actually have more time, not less, because you aren't constantly revisiting the ghosts of tasks past. It's a harder way to work in the moment, but it's an infinitely easier way to live in the long run.
Check your work. Validate it. Hand it off.
That is how it’s done done done.