Mind-numbing grinding.

I've been working very hard over the past few days towards a few achievements. Yes, I did say a few. I've mentioned I've been working on Insane in the Membrane, and I still am, but I cannot focus on just one at once. So I take an ADHD approach to it, while still being somewhat organized, atleast it makes sense to me. I'm prioritizing mounts and reputation achievements. I log in, farm Headless Horseman on all my alts (takes 15 minutes), then I solo Anzu, grab a H MGT buddy and head over there, use my Argent Crusader's Tabard to teleport to the tournament grounds, bang those off, hearth to Dalaran, and then head out to any of the various places I'm hunting reputation. I should dust off Sha'tari Skyguard reputation in another hour or two of grinding, and then perhaps it's back to alternating between killing pirates with some friends, or farming Timbermaw Hold rep for the final legs of The Diplomat , They Love Me In That Tunnel , and of course towards Insane in the Membrane. Side note: I've chosen to get myself to neutral via means of mass murdering Southseas Pirates in the Barrens near Ratchet. It's just too underwhelming doing dozens of Dire Maul runs and not seeing that reputation go up much, plus I keep scoring libram jack-pots on the AH.

Sounds like a lot of work to balance, but it suits me just fine. Oh, and I also farm Baron Rivendare a bit, but I'm not sure whether the mount is disappearing or not. Stratholme will still be an instance, but Baron Rivendare will be replaced with another NPC. I haven't seen any updates to the loot table, but on Beta the instance is much different.

On Wednesday my guild will be back at our attempts to get Lich King 25 Neck Deep in Vile which is by far the hardest and most annoying achievement, but for most of us, it's the last thing that stands between us and the Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher as well as completing the quest for our guild's second Shadowmourne, and hopefully I get a chance to roll on the Crimson Deathcharger, or any of the many goodies that drops. It would be a perfect way for our 25 man runs to end Wrath of the Lich King, before we take our break until Cataclysm. I may be one of the crazies who decide to push hard for Bane of the Lich King, and possibly grab my 10 man mount, which I only need Sindragosa HM to finish.

A few tips for grinding anything:

1. Music. Seriously, nothing helps the mind-numbing lull of killing the same 100 mobs over and over and over again like some good tunes.

2. Take a break. If you're vision starts to blur, and your butt feels a bit tingly, and your bladder feels like it will burst, that's your sign to get up and take a break. Do some jumping jacks, take a walk, drink some water, etc. There's nothing more refreshing that water on your tongue, a stretch and the feel of blood returning to your behind.

3. Find some friends. It's really handy when you can chat on vent with some friends, or even find some guildies or make friends while grinding to join a group. Farming pirates is by far the worst, or reps that are best earned by running dungeons, to grind alone. Even though you could solo it, it's perfectly beneficial to do these types of grinds with friends. Best part, is you can go afk and someone else can kill pirates for you, and vice versa.

4. This carries over to raiding. When the grind is tough, keep up the focus by having a good laugh, keeping things light-hearted and don't brood when you wipe continuously. People aren't perfect and mistakes happen. Plus studies show, raiding with smiles improves your performance by 78.95612%! Ok, I made that up, but seriously, I think the nights where my guild has gotten down achievements or progression, were the nights when everyone was focused on the task and the general mood over vent was relaxed.

5. Get ready for Cataclysm. Ok, this isn't a step really, but come on. I'm excited, are you?