Also, I have found that if I don't open myself up to the hard task at hand before I start, a lot of things can happen that deviates myself from doing the task in its optimal form. For example, I can come up with excuses for not doing the task right now, or I can invent other work that is 'more important', or find something to blame while I do the task so I can cope with its difficulty, etc.

There is a myriad of things that can be invented to avoid or cope with the pain, but if I am going through this anyway, there is no reason whatsoever to make it more painful that it will already be.