It's Easier to Tinker

What is it about people that makes us always want to do anything besides the thing we should be doing? Why am I so eager to work on side project and minor changes to things that aren't that important, but I struggle to put serious time into the things that I know are most important?

Right now I should be focused on producing great content for this site. I love writing, and I love hearing feedback on my thoughts. I always feel good afterwards that I spent some time writing and produced something new. Producing new content is a wonderfully rewarding feeling, and sharing it widely is a uniquely 21st century luxury. So few people even 20 years ago had the ability to write something and have it read by more than a handful of people. The fact that I have a server hosting my words to so many people is a rare gift that was not available to people for the vast majority of human history.

And yet I still find myself tinkering on these little things that don't contribute to my main goals as a writer and as a developer. I'll tinker with a website theme, or modify one thing on Today Weather that won't make much of a difference to any users. I'll play with more programming languages and website CMS's all day, but committing to something more significant is a challenge.

I win this battle more than I lose it, but I could easily slip into a losing streak at any time. It's something everyone has to figure out for themselves, so there's not a lot anyone can do for anyone else in this regard. The best you can do is do your best to inspire those around you to keep up.