I agree with the gist of what others have said here. There are lots of ways to contaminate productive tasks with aversiveness that isn’t intrinsic to the task. Unpleasant work environment is pretty obvious. I spent one undergrad summer commuting by bike, and I’d always get to work sweaty and tired in a bad way. Because that’s what I thought of when I thought about going to work, I spent a lot of days unproductively working from home. For the next job that had a bike commute, I took active measures to avoid the same problems, and now I look forward to biking to work.
I agree especially strongly with what Kaj_Sotala says about using guilt (or other negative emotions). Boredom and frustration can also be problems. When I notice them, it’s usually not because my task is itself boring or frustrating; I’ve just become disengaged or I feel stuck. So I remind myself of this, think of all the reasons my work is actually cool and worthwhile or of the progress I’ve made, and then take a break, switch tasks, or carry on.
Or sometimes I notice that I strongly don’t feel like working and am unlikely to get much done. In these cases I’ve found it’s better to simply set things down for a while and to do some mental work to make sure I don’t feel guilty about quitting, rather than try to force myself through it. (Of course, it’s even better to make myself feel like working again. But that’s quite a trick itself.)
Conversely, I spend leisure time doing things I enjoy and endorse. The taste I’ve cultivated means that a lot of cheap and addictive entertainment doesn’t especially appeal to me, and it gives me a sense that my enjoyment of things is a little more meaningful than it was before. I’ve spent some serious thought concerning blocked-out leisure time and endorsed activities, so that I can trust my past self’s strategic planning and not worry about wastefulness.
I guess I haven’t been too specific. These ideas depend on more fundamental skills like mindfulness, or noticing and dealing with negative thoughts. Those are big topics themselves and the specific implementations tend to be idiosyncratic. Still, I hope this is helpful.
Cool, any specific tips on good motivation hygiene you’d recommend?
I agree with the gist of what others have said here. There are lots of ways to contaminate productive tasks with aversiveness that isn’t intrinsic to the task. Unpleasant work environment is pretty obvious. I spent one undergrad summer commuting by bike, and I’d always get to work sweaty and tired in a bad way. Because that’s what I thought of when I thought about going to work, I spent a lot of days unproductively working from home. For the next job that had a bike commute, I took active measures to avoid the same problems, and now I look forward to biking to work.
I agree especially strongly with what Kaj_Sotala says about using guilt (or other negative emotions). Boredom and frustration can also be problems. When I notice them, it’s usually not because my task is itself boring or frustrating; I’ve just become disengaged or I feel stuck. So I remind myself of this, think of all the reasons my work is actually cool and worthwhile or of the progress I’ve made, and then take a break, switch tasks, or carry on.
Or sometimes I notice that I strongly don’t feel like working and am unlikely to get much done. In these cases I’ve found it’s better to simply set things down for a while and to do some mental work to make sure I don’t feel guilty about quitting, rather than try to force myself through it. (Of course, it’s even better to make myself feel like working again. But that’s quite a trick itself.)
Conversely, I spend leisure time doing things I enjoy and endorse. The taste I’ve cultivated means that a lot of cheap and addictive entertainment doesn’t especially appeal to me, and it gives me a sense that my enjoyment of things is a little more meaningful than it was before. I’ve spent some serious thought concerning blocked-out leisure time and endorsed activities, so that I can trust my past self’s strategic planning and not worry about wastefulness.
I guess I haven’t been too specific. These ideas depend on more fundamental skills like mindfulness, or noticing and dealing with negative thoughts. Those are big topics themselves and the specific implementations tend to be idiosyncratic. Still, I hope this is helpful.