There are two ways of looking at it. (And aren’t there always? At least.)

The one part of the Big Project that intimidates me the most, the most complex spreadsheet that I have to create more or less from scratch every year, is done. I spent several hours today, skidding and sputtering but ultimately succeeding. It’s the hardest thing I every do, as far as work is concerned. I should feel a great deal of satisfaction that it lies behind me and not ahead. And I do, more or less.

But now comes the real work. I finished that spreadsheet with a little time to spare. Time that I could have devoted to some other part of the Big Project, for example. But I was so relieved to have the worst behind me that I didn’t want to spoil the mood by getting myself into the middle of something that’s definitely going to take more than one day (or one weekend) to get out of.

So I stopped working and started resting. Well, it’s Saturday, after all. It’s a three-day weekend (supposedly). And I’ve been tired so long I don’t know what anything else feels like. There’s a lot left to do, but what I’ve already done is enough for today.

However I look at it, I can’t be disappointed in what I didn’t do, because I’m so glad I’ve come as far as I have. The single most difficult component is done. What’s left is the rest of it, and it’s the most tedious, repetitive, time-consuming thing I ever ask myself to do. Even though it’s a long haul, it’s less intimidating than what I did in a few hours today. I could get it done in a couple of days, I think, if I were really motivated. Or if I were really left alone.