Wait, they wanted you to clean it right after the raccoons finally left?? With all the mess they leave behind? That's wild. Momma raccoon probably left you a nice little surprise up there, I would've charged extra just for having to look at it.

Took me way too long to learn that with sourdough starter, gentle is always better.

Forget the whole hydra comparison - think of it like a sink full of dishes that keeps refilling from a hidden faucet. You clear the counters but the drips keep coming. @oliviab44 nailed it about plumbing jobs - those have an actual endpoint where you turn off the water and walk away. But tiny tasks are different because they don't have a shutoff valve. The trick isn't outsmarting the list, it's realizing some of those tasks are just background noise you can let sit.