I used to clean whenever I was at home and needed to finish some schoolwork. It would put off the work just a little bit longer but I still felt productive. When you’re stuck in the office, cleaning is not an option. I have already straightened up my desk as much as possible. So I guess, really, there’s nothing left to do but the work that’s in front of me. Sigh.

Typically, however, I get things done. I have a feeling (Ash would call it arrogance) that if I don’t do X, X will not get done. But this way, all things get done whether I felt like doing them or not. For example, all bottles and sippys (yeah E still gets a bottle in the AM and one right before bed) get washed about every two days. Ash has washed bottles, oh, a handful of times since Elliot was born. It was because I asked him to; not because he saw that it needed to be done. And that’s the key difference between me and him. So my motivation lies in knowing that in order for something to be done in a timely manner, I must do it myself.

I have 15 rsearch papers to grade. Not an easy task but not overliy difficult, seeing as how I have read the three previous drafts already. And yet, I have put this off now for four days. I know that no one else is going to grade these papers. But I still cannot find it in me to begin. Sometimes I think just one more cup of coffee is the key. However, I slept about 8 hours last night and had about 75 mg of cafeine this morning in my Cranergy. I am wide awake. But still, this impending task weighs on me, hovers over me, and I do not begin.

What do you do to get started? I tend to find that once I can kickstart my ass into beginning the project, it turns out to be much easier afterall and I finish quickly. But what compels you?