Clare and I (and I am sure many other people) are constantly impressed by the fact that Ellen and Dave built the house we are living in, and how they got so many things done. No offense to Ellen on this one, but Dave in particular seems to get so many things done so quickly, that we often ask him if he did something, only to find out that he already has done it. I think I have learned his secret — Just do it. It may seem simple (and a Nike slogan), but I will explain by example.
On Monday, I was waiting to say goodbye to Clare as she headed off to the airport to start her new job in Colorado. I was just looking around a bit, and I noticed that some of the wood siding on the garage was starting to bow out in several places. My first thought was: “I should fix that sometime”. Then I immediately thought: “why not now? It will only take a few minutes”. So I got out a ladder and a hammer, and started pounding. That worked some, but it quickly became clear that I need to put in a few new nails. So I grabbed some nails, and put a few more in, and was done in about 10 minutes. Now it looks better, and should hopefully be less enticing to insects and critters that might want to build nests there.
So that is the secret. When you see a little project that needs to be done, don’t wait. Just do it. Now.