Bamboozle Yourself Better

How to scam the self into adulting

Last summer I tricked myself into making a patio in my garden.

I say “tricked myself” because I was (Capital Letters) House Project Exhausted after a year of steady, inconvenient repairs, and the thought of willingly adding yet ANOTHER (albeit lovely) item to the to-do list was not exactly something I was excited about.

Still, I had impulse-bought a pack of interlocking rubber patio tiles the previous summer when my dad and I had done a glorious “first home” Costco run, so I figured I might as well use them.

I put it off for weeks.

I daily surveyed my barren, hole-ridden backyard with resignation.

Then one day, riding a sudden wave of momentum, I said “You know what, I’ll just put them down right now— BAM BAM BAM, done. It doesn’t have to be perfect.”

So I started.

I got out the tiles. I put them down. I realized that one pack of tiles was enough to cover exactly a patio space of about 10 square feet— which sounds like a lot on the label but I promise you, it’s not.

“Huh,” I said to myself. “Well, I better get more.”

So I went to the Costco, had a slice of pizza, and bought 3 more packs.

Me outside the Costco, resigning myself to the fact that this project might take way more energy than initially planned

By that time I got back to my backyard, I realized I had put so much more money into the concept of a patio than I intended that I couldn’t just lay them out willy-nilly on the grass.

“Well,” I thought, “I guess I could dig up this grass area a bit, then smooth out the dirt so it’s flatter.”

So I did.

Then I thought: “Well, I did all this work to flatten it out, maybe I should lay down cardboard so the weeds don’t grow through.”

So I did.

Then I thought “Hmmm…this space isn’t actually as big as I want it to be.”

So I bought more packs of tiles, dug up more grass, and put down more cardboard.

Then one of the packs I bought was a sliiiiightly different color so I had to exchange it for another.

I think you can see where this is going.

is that pride or regret on my face?

A week later, after spending around 50+ hours more than I intended to on this project, my sub-par-to-moderately-ok DIY patio space was complete.

my patio: a tiny oasis of rubber tiles in a sea of dead grass

I don’t actually SIT on the patio, I just stare at it lovingly from my kitchen as I wash my dishes.

This ANNIEGRAM might seem like a humble brag about perseverance, or a cautionary tale about what happens when you over-commit yourself, or an advertisement for the “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie” book about wayward adults attempting their own home projects.

But mainly I just want to tell you that if you have to bamboozle yourself into doing things, it’s ok. You don’t have to be excited about it, you don’t have to get it right on the first try, you don’t have to be super prepared to start—just jump in.

You never know what could happen with your goals if you just make a first half-assed attempt.

Love,

Annie B.

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THREE GOOD THINGS

1. My best friend sent me a Venmo to buy these (accompanying note: “This money is for snacks AND ONLY SNACKS”) and now I’m hooked. If you like salty-sweet treats, do yourself a solid and snag these.

   

2. I watched this movie the other day it was a delight. (And also made me very hungry.)

3. See? Like this article says: Life hacks are totally ok. Garlic in a Jar 4 Life!