- I need to consciously preplan unpleasant parts of the task so I can do them. Either because they require planning to do them pleasantly or because they are unpleasant to me because of low efficiency or other reasons (running the Simulation software that makes me feel bad for my CPU to slowly test hypotheses about my program). So I write down (in a text file) what I am going to do next. This felt like it got me slightly more motivated.
- If the Textbook is not engaging to read, I just skip forward to the exercises, then look up what I need for each.
- I felt significantly better recently after telling myself that each day has a part where I don't need to do the task that I don't like, and stop expecting myself to totally frontload it, because then I just feel stressed for a few days and backload it instead.
- The guy who said that you should think about motivation instead of technique might be onto something a little bit, because these strategies I have for myself fix something about my brain: having enough context to start or concrete things to do to keep going. They also feel like they are ADHD coping strategies, but I don't actually know if I have it.
this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2026
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