I always think that I want long, unbroken stretches of the workday to go deep on projects and get everything done that's on the day's to-do list.

But historically, when I have had those long stretches of time, I've squandered them.

It's too much pressure, and I'm not a machine. I can't always sustain my attention long enough to follow through on everything I said I would do.

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For years, I resisted getting the online version of my bookkeeping software.

It was a monthly fee for each business, whereas my existing desktop software had already been purchased and could be used for multiple businesses with no further expense.

Unfortunately, the desktop version of the software was buggy, unreliable, and didn't import transactions on its own. Attempting to use it required a lot of troubleshooting, and I always seemed to be accessing the wrong file or the wrong computer.

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When I was a music teacher, I had to present some counterintuitive ideas to parents who wanted to instill a love of music in their children.

Rather than advocating for a romantic, passionate affair with the instrument, I took a much cooler tone.

I suggested that practicing music is just like brushing our teeth. We do it whether we want to or not, and then it's done.

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I try to build my plan for each day based on a realistic expectation for what I’m going to accomplish.

Despite my good intentions, though, there are a lot of days when I have to, as David Allen calls it, “renegotiate my commitment” to myself. I have to accept that there are a bunch of tasks I’m not going to get done and shunt them all over to the next day or the next week.

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A lot of us have the same problem: There’s something we want to accomplish, and we don’t know how to make it happen.

We undertake the journey with excitement and cheering crowds, like Dorothy on the yellow brick road, and then fizzle out when everyone else has gone home and we realize how hard it’s going to be.

Or we work diligently, day by day, and then realize that we don’t seem to be getting any closer to our desired outcome.

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