Things to do When Unmotivated #

See also my deeper dive on the nature of motivation.

Background #

Usually I go through a couple periods of time every day where I don’t really feel like doing anything, or I at least don’t feel like doing anything that requires focus. I’ve noticed this happens for a couple reasons:

• It’s the afternoon (I think because of some circadian rhythm of mine).
• I ate in the last couple hours.
• I exercised around an hour or two ago. Right after exercise I usually feel quite focused/energized.
• I feel hot/sweaty/greasy.
• I’ve been sitting and staring at a screen (usually doing focus-requiring work) for too long (5+ hours).

Ideas #

The ideal task would be something that doesn’t require focus, works towards something useful (e.g. a skill), and inspires motivation after doing it for a while. Some ideas:

• Write a narrative of what you have been doing towards a particular task to clear up thinking about it.
  • Con: Can be hard
• Napping.
• Going for a run or doing any kind of exercise.
• Taking a shower
• Not eating (being hungry), or getting colder in temperature.
  • Con: Stressful. Best if paired with another engaging activity.
• Organizing stuff. E.g. going through old browser tabs or loading the dishwasher.
  • Pro: Productive (work that would have to be done anyway).
  • Pro: Can inspire creativity if going through old things that you have memories of.
• Sitting and doing nothing.
  • Pro: Boredom often inspires motivation.
  • Con: Can be uncomfortable.
• Browsing Reddit or Hacker News.
  • Pro: Can sometimes find really useful information.
  • Pro: Entertaining.
  • Con: Isn’t very restful, doesn’t do a good job inspiring motivation.
  • Con: Can lead to a time-comsuming rabbit-hole.
• Listening to energetic music.
  • Pro: Entertaining.
  • Pro: Often inspires focus.
  • Con: Can actually be grating/more tiring sometimes.
  • Con: Sometimes leads to distractions like reading about the artist or reading the lyrics. This depends highly on the song.
• Talking to people.
  • Con: People not always available.
  • Con: Can be draining.
  • Con: Can lock you in to a conversation longer than you want to be.
• Eating.
  • Pro: Is relaxing.
  • Con: Can lead to “snack-train”-ing, where I keep going back for more snacks and end up overeating. This in the worst case can have knock on effects for days of low/bad energy!
• YouTubeing.
  • Pro: Is relaxing.
  • Con: Can lead to time consuming rabbit hole.

Categories: Mind

Backlinks: Daily Physiological Tricks, Motivation,