gizmo trick outs

I have to admit, when it comes to doing things that I don't l-o-v-e to do, I usually opt out. I almost always opt out until I trick myself back on the wagon.

Exercise. It's good for me, but not really that fun... Until I buy a new pair of running shoes and write the date I bought them on the tongue. Now, every time I put on my running shoes, I know that I'll need to buy a new pair a year from that date. It makes me feel smart and oh-so organized, and that's a very nice motivator. Oh yeah, and my little ipod shuffle also gets me, especially when it is loaded up with a bunch of new music, or at least the most recent episode of This American Life.

Flossing. I hate to do it. Most people go to the dentist and the fresh start of just cleaned teeth motivates them to floss more often. Not me. I have overactive saliva glands that give me plaque no matter what I do. My dental hygienist does not believe me when I tell her that I floss. Instead she wipes my plaque on my dental bib and keeps shaking her head and making me answer her questions when her whole entire hand is in my mouth. For two whole years I stopped flossing until Zander's parents put one of those Reach Flossers in my Christmas stocking. I'm hooked.

I also don't like taking vitamins. That is, I don't like taking vitamins unless THEY ARE REALLY JUST LIKE TOOTSIE ROLLS.

Laundry, you ask? I got this Downy fabric softener, and while I still don't love doing laundry, I do enjoy the smell of this stuff, and that makes me a little bit less likely to let the dirty pile get as enormous as it has been known get. And, I prefer folding this sweet smelling laundry before the sweet smell goes away, so I tend to fold it sooner than I used to. Nice, eh?

And the thing that I have always hated to do, but do pretty much everyday now, without fail... Shaving my legs. I have scars on my knees from the horrible cuts that shaving with soap and water have given me. I all but stopped shaving around my Achilles tendon because that spot bleeds like crazy if I knick it. Well, on a whim, I tried shaving cream this summer and now I shave my legs pretty often. I don't cut myself anymore = motivation to shave. No more wearing boots in the summer unless I want to!

Anyone have any gadgets or gizmos that trick you into doing things that you don't like to do?