Inefficient use of Google Reader

I can't help myself, but I have this silly problem. I am much more likely to read a feed that has a manageable number of unread items, such as 10 or fewer, because I enjoy the sense of accomplishment of being up to date on these feeds too much. Even though I should really be spending my time only reading blogs that are the most interesting to me, once I fall behind on those I waste time reading a few posts on lesser lights of the blogosphere. Reading 5 of 85 posts just seems more daunting than reading 5 of 5 posts, even if those 5 of 85 will be better!

Finally, for better or worse, I always prioritize posts written by friends of mine. I'm going to try to get better about this, but I feel like I'm not alone...