At the end of each year my group of “music friends” each write about our top albums of the year.

It’s an enjoyable process to listen to a vast amount of music in search of my next great find.

I’m very passionate about music and love sharing it with other people.

On the other hand, it’s fucking horrible.

It’s one of the most stressful events of my year.

I dread explaining why I like certain artists and albums.

Why do I like this album?

Because it’s really good?

I don’t know, fuck.

And every year, I’m late turning in my review.

I freeze.

I have the albums.

I have a general idea of the order of albums.

But, it’s overwhelming for me to write about.

Why is that?

Why is it so hard for me to sit down and explain the key aspects of an album?

Is it even about describing the music or is it about the fact that the project itself is long and arduous?

The more I thought about it, the more I realize it’s the time and commitment I need to set aside to complete my list.

I always get it done, but I’m also always late.

Why? Because I cram.

I cram my writing into 4-5 days of 4-5 hours per day.

Of course I hate the process.

I have two kids, a wife, and a million other interests.

But, it happened even before that.

No one wants to sit down for 4 straight hours writing and listening and thinking about not sounding like a drunken sailor.

The only way I’m going to finish this year is by working every day on the project with the intention of not finishing.

I don’t want to finish today.

What I want is progress.

Any progress.

One sentence.

One edit.

One review.

One order change.

That’s how you finish overwhelmingly difficult tasks.

You work on them each day for a short period of time.

Eventually, you finish.

I might not be on time finishing my list yet again this year, but I guarantee I finish early than usual.

That’s all that matters.

Personal progress and growth.

Slowly chipping away at hard goals.

Don’t finish your project today.

That’s unnecessary stress and pressure.

Instead, focus on incremental gains and improvements.

It won’t be as rewarding as immediately finishing in a couple of days, but it will get done a lot faster and it will be better overall.