"FOR BETTER IS HALF A LOAF THAN NO BREAD"

Nike logo. from Nike.com

I recently learned that doing certain things half-heartedly might not be such a bad idea. According to this school of thought, we don't always have to feel like it, to actually do it. Getting things done even when all the conditions of work are not perfect might actually be the thing that makes us become better. As a writer, I love it when I am in the mood to write. I find that in those times, the writing comes with ease and I feel a certain energy that psychologists have termed "the flow". 

Being in the perfect mental state to work is great but what happens to our work when we don't feel like working? It suffers. So, perhaps the logic of just doing it might help us in certain areas of our lives. At the end of the day, practice makes perfect and the more we do, the better we become. 

If you run a mile twice a week even when you don't feel like running, that's four miles at the end of the week. If you practice learning a new language for five minutes every day, you would achieve thirty-five minutes of practice weekly. If you decide to write for an hour every weekend,  you would have four hours of writing practice at the end of the month.  The point is that little cents count over a long period of saving. 

A myriad of things can affect us emotionally on a daily basis but if we decide regardless, to do the things we need to do,  even at the barest minimum, we will become better at those things in the long term. 

At the end of the day, however, it is all about balance. Don't be a dilettante: that guy that cannot fully commit to a task; who does work "anyhow". But on days you don't feel like working, put in your two cents.  "For better is half a loaf than no bread."