Motivational Tip #2

Do the worst job first!

There is something that you know needs to be done, but are dreading doing.  You try to do other things, but just want to go back to bed -- to hide under the covers.  Let me tell you what:  There is nothing like just getting it done and over with. 

The other day, it was time to pay the bills  I hate that job!  And yet it comes twice a month...  I had managed to put it off for several days, but the due dates just kept getting closer, and I hate late fees even more than paying the bills, so decided it had to be done.  Done today.  But, I would clean my bathroom first, and help the little boys pick up there room, and weed the garden and then tend to some of my daily chores.  There would be plenty of time to get the bills paid!  Yah.  Right.  I cleaned my bathroom, sort of.  It did look a little better than when I had begun.  Then I mosied outside, determined to do better at weeding, but after wandering around the garden for half an hour, I decided it was time for a break.  It was only after I had a glass of water in my hand that I realized I had not pulled a single weed the entire time I was out there.  I attempted to do some other things, I even tried to write several articles, but nothing good came about.  Finally, I realized, I just didn't want to pay the bills and that nothing was going to change until they were out of the way. 

Time to bit the bullet.  Sit down.  Getter done!  It was 5 pm.  I had wasted the whole day, not paying the bills.  By 5:30, the bills were all paid, recorded, stamped and ready to go.  And I finally had energy!  Energy and ideas!  I cooked a good supper and cleaned up several other things that had been bothering me all day.  Today, I started with the most unpleasant chore:  Admitting to my husband that I had lost a tool he had loaned me, and had no ideas left as to where to look for it.  *embarrassing*

He found the tool a few hours later.  It was on his work bench, probably where I had set it moments after he had entrusted me with it.  *relief*  And I got quite a bit done today. 

Doing the worst job first is a trick I learned from reading the Little House books as a child.  When Laura was a teen she had a job at the local General Store, sewing shirts.  She hated making button holes, so always did them as soon as she could, and as quickly as possible.  She did such a good job at them, that her boss complimented her, thinking it was her favorite part of shirt making.  She did it so that she could enjoy the rest of the prosses.