Amanda, It's nice to hear that some of the course content resonated so well with you. Yes, many instructors find themselves in a similar situation. It's tempting just to complete the small tasks first, never moving to the larger tasks. For these types of people, I recommend breaking large and daunting tasks into smaller, bite-sized pieces. You can represent the bite-sized tasks on your to-do lists, instead of the larger ones. This might drive you to actually completing them.
Dr. Melissa Read