End While It Works
Set the end while it still works and keep to it; never wait for it to fail.
Formerly Sunset
The law that expires unless someone renews it.
Seen in Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, German Pavilion, Barcelona International Exposition, 1929
Try it on your work
Choose one thing that has quietly stopped earning its place (a tool kept, a pile maintained, a fixture serviced) and retire it deliberately: a last use, then out. The space it vacates will be claimed within days; watch by what.
Formally close one conversation, thread, or standing question that has been open past its usefulness: a final message that says it's finished and why. Closure declared beats closure assumed; count how many others were waiting for someone to say it.
Give one ongoing activity an end date, announce it, and hold it, wind-down plan included. What survived by migrating elsewhere is what was actually valuable in it.
How it has been used
Retire the thing deliberately while it still works: the airline's last flight of a plane that flies fine, the final issue announced a year ahead, the ritual last performance. The move forbids waiting for failure: retiring what's already broken is disposal; the operation is choosing the ending.
Where it leads
Grouped under Help me bring it to a close