Dinner was always the same. Green vegetable, mashed potatoes, dead animal. No, I’m exaggerating. Sometimes we had spaghetti and meatballs, sometimes we had grilled cheese and tomato soup. Sometimes it was fish sticks with macaroni and cheese, my favorite! But mostly it was broccoli or spinach and steak or pork chops. The point is, sometimes there were peas on the plate and I had to eat them.
The lesson I learned then was to eat the peas first. The smell, the taste, the texture – I hated all of it, but if I got rid of them quickly, I could move on to the things I did like. (An aside – I have never, as an adult, made peas for myself for dinner – and I never will.)
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I’m working on a prototype of my project – eventually I’ll make a demo and show it off here – but right now I’m at a point where there is nothing fun or interesting or new to do. All that’s left is finicky detail work. The endorphin-rush of learning something new is over – now it’s all about polish. This is the part that always stops me dead in my tracks.
Good thing I’ve learned how to trick myself. First – I have given myself a deadline: the demo video must be done by January first. Second – I can make lists of tiny, tangible tasks, because even if I don’t get pleasure out of doing the work, I will get pleasure from ticking off the check box when it is done. Third – I’ll put the most annoying and boring of the tasks at the top of the list.
Eat the peas first – cause afterwards, everything else tastes great.
Mind of a Mouse 