How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
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Re: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
#2Why would you want to force yourself? Life isn't about how much work you can do. If you feel like working, then work. If you don't, then don't work.
Re: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
#3Why would you want to force yourself? Life isn't about how much work you can do. If you feel like working, then work. If you don't, then don't work.
Right, and what if I don't feel like working, but I do feel like eating?
Re: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
#4Why would you want to force yourself? Life isn't about how much work you can do. If you feel like working, then work. If you don't, then don't work.
Some people do not have such a luxury. I cannot arbitrarily decide to ignore my daily duties simply because I don't feel like working. I'd be fired. The same goes if you are a business owner in charge of your working hours. You cannot arbitrarily decide that your client portal outage doesn't matter because you don't feel like working. Your client is going to fire you.
Re: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
#5Why would you want to force yourself? Life isn't about how much work you can do. If you feel like working, then work. If you don't, then don't work.
> If you feel like working, then work. If you don't, then don't work
I know this is HN, but please don't over-parse the headline. Telling your boss or customers that you just don't feel like working today is a luxury that almost no one has.
Re: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
#6I have found the Pomodoro Technique (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique) to be helpful. I can't do it for a whole day, but a short sprint to grind through something is a near, achievable goal. For extended, head-banging frustrations, it's helpful to step away, think about it without the distraction of the screen, and coming back at it with fresh eyes. The time AFK is not to be underestimated: http://www.paulgraham.com/top.html
Re: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
#7Why would you want to force yourself? Life isn't about how much work you can do. If you feel like working, then work. If you don't, then don't work.
Some people do not have such a luxury. I cannot arbitrarily decide to ignore my daily duties simply because I don't feel like working. I'd be fired. The same goes if you are a business owner in charge of your working hours. You cannot arbitrarily decide that your client portal outage doesn't matter because you don't feel like working. Your client is going to fire you.
If you get fired, then what? Even if you don't find a new source of income, you're not going to starve. Only a few hundred people starve per year in the U.S. What's the big deal? It's all just psychological issues in your brain. Either way is actually fine.
Re: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some people do not have such a luxury. I cannot arbitrarily decide to ignore my daily duties simply because I don't feel like working. I'd be fired. The same goes if you are a business owner in charge of your working hours. You cannot arbitrarily decide that your client portal outage doesn't matter because you don't feel like working. Your client is going to fire you.
If you get fired, then what? Even if you don't find a new source of income, you're not going to starve. Only a few hundred people starve per year in the U.S. What's the big deal? It's all just psychological issues in your brain. Either way is actually fine.
You are correct, most people would not starve; however, losing one's job is not something to be taken lightly. I imagine the following would be a very difficult conversation with your family: "Well, I just didn't quite feel like working today. As a result, I lost my job. You may have to go without many of the things I have previously worked so hard to get for this family, but at least everyone won't starve."
EDIT: Also, the issue of hunger in the United States is much more serious than you think.
http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hun...
Re: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
#9I have found the Pomodoro Technique ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique ) to be helpful. I can't do it for a whole day, but a short sprint to grind through something is a near, achievable goal. For extended, head-banging frustrations, it's helpful to step away, think about it without the distraction of the screen, and coming back at it with fresh eyes. The time AFK is not to be underestimated: http://ww…
Pomodoro saved my butt during my senior year of college. I put off a book report until the last minute and found myself needing to read 5 chapters about medieval Italian republics in 3 hours. I allocated 1 Pomodoro to each chapter, and said that if I hadn't finished the chapter before the end, I would skip to the next one. This forced me to speed read and skip confusing parts (instead of re-reading them 10 times). The report wasn't one of my best, but I wouldn't have finished it at all without the structure I got from Pomodoro.
I used the focus booster app for OS X, I highly recommend it: http://www.focusboosterapp.com/
Re: How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To
#10I have found the Pomodoro Technique ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique ) to be helpful. I can't do it for a whole day, but a short sprint to grind through something is a near, achievable goal. For extended, head-banging frustrations, it's helpful to step away, think about it without the distraction of the screen, and coming back at it with fresh eyes. The time AFK is not to be underestimated: http://ww…
I second this. Usually I get distracted anyways, so I program 8 hours and get it done in 12 or so. It's harder to use when you have a lot of outside constraints in scheduling (you can't really walk out of class for 5 minutes every 30 minutes), but I use it on weekends and when I have a free-ish schedule.