Please Yell at Me, But Don't Yell at Me

After I recovered from the mini-meltdown and actually got some work done, I thought wouldn't it be great to have someone yell at me when I started to goof off, space out, or engage in some useless pursuit at the expense of what really needs doing?

I remember a physical therapist who would always make me do all of my excercises even when I thought I had reached exhaustion. She didn't shout at me like a drill sargeant, but if I started flagging, she would say, come on, finish up and don't get sloppy. It worked. I did more that I thought I could do because she rode my ass.

Unfortunately, it isn't possible for me to ride my own ass. Just as I cannot tickle myself, I cannot easily say, "Hey, back to work!," at least not with any reliability. I am pretty good at making myself feel crappy when I don't accomplish things, but that's pretty useless.

If I could pay someone like a physical therapist to yell at me, that would be fine, but I can't ask a friend to do it. I recently tried to get a friend to tell me that I had too much junk in my bedroom. I asked her point blank, "Do you think this is a problem?" I believed that if she said yes, that would motivate me to get rid of some of the stuff. Wisely, she didn't take the bait. Being the nag is a thankless job, even when people ask you to do it. Nags deserve material compensation.