There are many approaches to eating. There are pickers, people not really eating just spreading food around so it looks like they are, and choosers, people who have to try a bit of everything — even from your plate. There are the separatists, eating their dinner according to food group, and at the other extreme, the bite-builders (I am one of them) meticulously constructing each mouthful with a perfect ratio of flavours from the meal.

I also grew up being a ‘save-the-best-until-last’ kind of girl. Take a sandwich — I start with the crusts and only then work my way round the choicest morsel in the middle for the finale. Two drawbacks to this method: by the time I reach the middle sometimes I’m too full to really enjoy it, or someone comes along and asks for a bite … and which bite do they always take?

Why the food analogy? Because oh so often, the way we do one thing can reflect the way we do everything. Recently I’ve become aware I may need to rethink my approaches.

I’m working on a project; with a likely two to three-year trajectory it’s probably the biggest project I’ve ever tackled. Having confessed my natural predilection away from commitment one might forgive that now, only a quarter of the way through, I’m beginning to get cold feet, seeing the end as too far off. Wise council over Sunday brunch, however, may have turned this around. I was advised to “just start with the fun bits. Work on those and then figure out tying them all together later.”

Until now my approach has been very linear: start at the beginning and keep going until I reach the end; tackle it all and be thorough. Places where I get stuck can keep me stuck, despite knowing I can come back to them. Fun bits? It’s been a while since I’ve even associated ‘fun’ with this project. It’s just become work.

Now that I look at it though, there are lots of fun aspects I could be working on. Simply turning my attention to them sparked an enthusiasm and excitement that had long faded. It’s a quick way to enhance productivity: areas where my ideas are strong will roll out easily. Smaller parts might be a quick finish. All the while I’m building momentum, enjoying small successes and feeling like I’m making progress. That energy created will help drive even the less appealing aspects of the process.

While I remain a big advocate of Brian Tracy’s Eat that Frog theory (tackling the ugliest part of your day first to get it out the way), I think the ‘fun factor’ could be the relish that gets it down, especially for long-haul goals.

They say children learn best when they don’t realise they’re learning. I certainly work best when I don’t feel like I’m working. I could only jog for 30 minutes yet dance all day. How can we factor more of that enjoyment into the work we do? What are the fun bits for you? Get going on them — the rest will follow. Perhaps sometimes it’s even OK to leave the crusts.

• Julia Pitt is a trained success coach and certified NLP practitioner on the team at Benedict Associates. For further information contact Julia on 705-7488, www.juliapittcoaching.com