Every road trip has three hours of flat nothing. That’s how you get to the mountains.

Dull stretches are not detours, they are the distance between the interesting parts. Every long project has a section with no scenery, where nothing memorable happens and the only task is to keep going in the same direction. Removing it is not an option, because it is the actual ground between where you are and where you want to be.

When you hit the flat part, stop looking for meaning in it and make it bearable instead. Music, a rhythm, someone to talk to, a rough count of what is left. Boring is what the middle of the map looks like.