Scott Young has a follow up to his post on how to learn new things. This applies to doing almost anything that takes consistent effort. (I recommend reading the Do the Real Thing post first, then Obstacles to the Real Thing.) “Business owners who spend more time printing business cards than finding clients. Students who create elaborate multicolored folders for their classes instead of sitting down and studying. People trying to get in shape who buy fancy workout gear instead of exercising. Pretend activity instead of the real thing.” I think we all succumb to this type of busywork to avoid what really needs to be done.