We all have stuff we’re weird about.

It might be that we need a certain amount of sleep or solitude to function. We might refuse any situation in which we’re going to be uncomfortably close to strangers for a prolonged period of time. We might never leave the house without a full face of makeup or carefully styled hair.

Me, I’m weird about food. I hate being hungry, and I get anxious if I don’t have a clear path toward what I deem to be appropriate food at regular intervals. I’m also weird about making sure the house is impeccably tidy before I go on a trip or a guest comes to stay.

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Here we are in late-stage pandemic. God, I hope this is late-stage.

Some of us have made it to the “other side” — vaccinated and ready to party — and some of us are still waiting. But it still doesn’t seem to be over, and there is no clear end point in sight. There’s no armistice to be signed, no bells that will ring.

In times of high uncertainty and stress, humans seek comfort. When our everyday circumstances provide little in the way of natural neurochemical highs, we go looking. Some of these are destructive even in moderation: cigarettes, hard drugs, dangerous places online and offline. Some of them are fine for awhile, but it’s a slippery slope: alcohol, work, gambling, gaming, TV, shopping, social media.

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I used to have a tendency to back off when I was winning.

Whether it was a board game or a bit of business success, some combination of guilt, laziness, or fatigue would lead me to coast a bit, leading to diminished results and even losses.

In order to curb this tendency, I took up tennis. I learned how to follow through on a swing and commit to a play. I practiced keeping up the intensity all the way to the end of a match, even when I was losing.

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A year ago, my parents and I went with my brother and his family to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral to see a Space X rocket take off and explore the visitor complex.

The rocket launch was a dazzling display, and seeing the space shuttle Atlantis was really cool. However, it’s the Saturn V rocket that has stuck with me the most. I simply couldn’t believe how big it was. I could visualize it in my mind, but seeing it was something else. I was truly in awe. We humans designed and built these enormous rockets, more than fifty years ago, to send people to the moon? How audacious. How improbable.

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Have you ever enrolled in a course that you didn’t finish?

I know I have. With online courses, it’s especially easy. It goes along with the books I’ve purchased but never read and the exercise equipment I used once. You just kind of…move on.

Sometimes, dropping out is no big deal. But other times, the results are heartbreaking. Failing to complete high school can limit a person’s job prospects dramatically, and failing to stick to a doctor-recommended diet and exercise regimen can mean the difference between a long, healthy life and a short and miserable one.

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What happens when you clear the decks to make room for your work — that most challenging work that you have been putting off but you know you need to do?

For many of us, nothing.

One of the weirder discoveries in observing my work habits, as well as those of my students, employees, and the people I coach, is that time has so little to do with whether something gets done.

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