Ask HN: Yak-Shaving Methodologies

For those of you who follow Zed Shaws "Learn X the Hard Way" series, the term "Yak Shaving" might sound familiar, but for those of you that don't —  >"“Yak shaving” is a programmer’s slang term for the distance between a task’s start and completion and the tangential tasks between you and the solution. If you ever wanted to mail a letter, but couldn’t find a stamp, and had to drive your car to get the stamp, but also needed to refill the tank with gas, which then let you get to the post office where you could buy a stamp to mail your letter—then you’ve done some yak shaving." What methods/tips do you use to convince yourself to do a boring but important task? This isn't restricted to programming (such as creating environments, installing dependencies), and applies to life in general. Thanks