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Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

zenhabits.net

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Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#11

Post by thibaut_barrere »

logophobia wrote: post #3

Exercise. It gives you energy and takes your mind of things for a while. We're not meant to sit on our buts in front of a screen all day. I know it's hard when you're tired and overworked, but it's indispensible. Also, sleep and eat well.

I really second that.

It doesn't have to be really physical: for me simple things such as walking in the nature for a while help a lot.

I also started yoga last year, and it has changed dramatically how I feel (no more back/neck pain, more focused etc). I'm actually increasing yoga to 2.5 hours per week now.

Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#12

Post by astrofinch »

Now that I have a notebook that I use to keep track of experiments I want to try on myself, I can skim this article, add a half dozen sentences to various parts of my notebook, and actually have a decent chance of trying out the advice that it provides.

I think something about having this intermediate phase between reading self-help advice and first trying it out helps me out a lot.

Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#13

Post by tomjen3 »

logophobia wrote: post #3

Exercise. It gives you energy and takes your mind of things for a while. We're not meant to sit on our buts in front of a screen all day. I know it's hard when you're tired and overworked, but it's indispensible. Also, sleep and eat well.

I disagree with you. If I liked the idea of doing pointless, repetitive manual labor, getting sweaty, having my entire body hurt and then do it all over again the next day, I wouldn't have spent so much time getting a degree.

Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#14

Post by JonnieCache »

askbjoernhansen wrote: post #10
mortenjorck wrote: post #8

6. Commit publicly. Gave me an idea. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2131849

Wasn't there research published sometime last year showing the opposite to be true? (When you tell other people your goal) or what you are doing/going to do, you internalize "I'm doing it" and then ... don't!). I know for me it's true -- I'm much more likely to get the things completed that I haven't told others that I'm working on.

Yup, it was Derek Silvers in a TED talk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHopJHSlVo4

Well worth watching. This one is < 4 minutes. Cites his sources.

Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#15

Post by AgentConundrum »

JonnieCache wrote: post #14
askbjoernhansen wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't there research published sometime last year showing the opposite to be true? (When you tell other people your goal) or what you are doing/going to do, you internalize "I'm doing it" and then ... don't!). I know for me it's true -- I'm much more likely to get the things completed that I haven't told others that I'm working on.

Yup, it was Derek Silvers in a TED talk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHopJHSlVo4 Well worth watching. This one is < 4 minutes. Cites his sources.

Blog post mentioned at the end, with links to sources and related materials: http://sivers.org/zipit

Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#16

Post by leftnode »

tomjen3 wrote: post #13
logophobia wrote: post #3

Exercise. It gives you energy and takes your mind of things for a while. We're not meant to sit on our buts in front of a screen all day. I know it's hard when you're tired and overworked, but it's indispensible. Also, sleep and eat well.

I disagree with you. If I liked the idea of doing pointless, repetitive manual labor, getting sweaty, having my entire body hurt and then do it all over again the next day, I wouldn't have spent so much time getting a degree.

Wow, I've never seen a comment so adverse to exercise. It's been scientifically proven that exercise is good for mental health in addition to physical health.

There's no way you can be serious.

Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#17

Post by kschua »

tomjen3 wrote: post #13
logophobia wrote: post #3

Exercise. It gives you energy and takes your mind of things for a while. We're not meant to sit on our buts in front of a screen all day. I know it's hard when you're tired and overworked, but it's indispensible. Also, sleep and eat well.

I disagree with you. If I liked the idea of doing pointless, repetitive manual labor, getting sweaty, having my entire body hurt and then do it all over again the next day, I wouldn't have spent so much time getting a degree.

If you think exercise is a pointless and repetitive manual labour. Try doing martial arts.

It is fun, sweaty and requires you to think on your feet. You need strategy to defeat an opponent before sparring. You need to think immediately on how to counter an attack or how to attack. You need to use leverage against a bigger opponent. You need to seize that small advantage you have to convert it to something bigger.

All of these train your mindset for entrepreneurship. Planning a strategy, changing you game plan, using leverage against bigger opponents. Having your body hurts trains you to take a beating. Losing a fight gives you feedback on how to improve if you are open to learning

Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#18

Post by [deleted] »

tomjen3 wrote: post #13
logophobia wrote: post #3

Exercise. It gives you energy and takes your mind of things for a while. We're not meant to sit on our buts in front of a screen all day. I know it's hard when you're tired and overworked, but it's indispensible. Also, sleep and eat well.

I disagree with you. If I liked the idea of doing pointless, repetitive manual labor, getting sweaty, having my entire body hurt and then do it all over again the next day, I wouldn't have spent so much time getting a degree.

[deleted]

Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#19

Post by tomjen3 »

leftnode wrote: post #16
tomjen3 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with you. If I liked the idea of doing pointless, repetitive manual labor, getting sweaty, having my entire body hurt and then do it all over again the next day, I wouldn't have spent so much time getting a degree.

Wow, I've never seen a comment so adverse to exercise. It's been scientifically proven that exercise is good for mental health in addition to physical health. There's no way you can be serious.

I am serious.

I also don't doubt for a moment that exercise is healthy for the body, just like spinach, which I also hate.

But hey if you got some idea about how to make it more fun, I am open for suggestions - I have no desire to die early.

Re: Get Off Your Butt: How to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

#20

Post by trafficlight »

tomjen3 wrote: post #19
leftnode wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I've never seen a comment so adverse to exercise. It's been scientifically proven that exercise is good for mental health in addition to physical health. There's no way you can be serious.

I am serious. I also don't doubt for a moment that exercise is healthy for the body, just like spinach, which I also hate. But hey if you got some idea about how to make it more fun, I am open for suggestions - I have no desire to die early.

What kind of exercise have you tried?

I'm more into weight lifting, myself. It's not at all tedious.

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