Negative Motivation & Procrastination

[Tim R]

There's two types of motivation for me; what I call positive motivation, which is motivation for doing something because I want to do it, and then there's negative motivation, which is motivation for doing something because you don'T want to do something else. 

I struggle a lot with procrastination, it has gotten a little bit better but still, it's extremely difficult for me. And when I procrastinate, the motivation for my action is negative motivation. So in procrastinating, I do what I do not because I want to do it, but because I want to avoid doing something else.

So this constant source of negative motivation is psychologically very taxing on me. It robs me of joy and the desire to do anything in life, including developing a life purpose. 

My question is: how do I reduce negative motivation? What's the source of procrastination?

I've contemplated the second question many times but haven't found any meaningful answer. I guess it's a very individual problem. Maybe you guys can help me with some input.

[universe]

Maybe it's an indicator that what you are currently doing is not what you want to be doing?

[Flowerfaeiry]

Do the counter intuitive thing and do nothing. Sit in your procrastination. Maybe even let yourself get really lazy. Soak it all in and love doing nothing. While you're doing this, don't judge yourself. Really accept it. I find once I give my body that break, I naturally want to start doing things again. I'm naturally drawn to being productive. 

[lmfao]

@Tim R I'm in the 3rd year of my university degree right now. I hate physics and my degree, for context. I have tonnes and tonnes of catch up studying throughout this e-learning year to do now within the next month, so I understand your question of negative motivation (not wanting to fail is mine) and procrastination. 

 

What I have the tendency to do is enter panic mode of forcing myself. I end up getting stuck in the same place for a long time but keep trying to push despite not being able to focus.

And then when I push myself and feel shit, I eat junk, masturbate a bit more than I would normally, etc 

What I'm slowly learning is to take it easier mentally. It comes down to 1) basic letting go and not resisting or changing your feelings, listening to them 2) cultivating a more optimistic outlook, although that's hard for me. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by lmfao

[LastThursday]

2 hours ago, Tim R said:

What's the source of procrastination?

Two places:

1. Attention
2. Having something you have to do

By attention I mean having attention taken away from the task at hand. You can't really control attention, but you can control the sources that grab attention (i.e. distraction). So the aim here is to reduce or remove all those things in your environment that distract you.  But the worst offender is thinking. You can't control thinking either - which is why it seems impossible to break out of procrastination. But again, you can control the triggers of thinking: so meditate, have peaceful surroundings, use music and so on. And make sure the body is satisfied: get sleep, eat properly, sit comfortably etc - otherwise it will grab too much attention or not allow you to focus. Be aware you will be more focused at certain times of the day, use that to your advantage.

The second point is less obvious. The only reason for procrastination is thinking you're being forced to do something. Sometimes that in itself can get your defences up, and make it hard to start. You always have a choice not to do something and just drop it, maybe you can live with the consequences?

Here's some tips that I use to reduce procrastination:

• Have a routine - work on the task at the same times each day, this primes the mind to be ready for action
• Start small - aim to do the task in chunks, just half an hour at a time, the chunks don't have to be consecutive, but the Pomodoro technique can also help here.
• Have a plan - if it's a big task, break the task down and plan out times and dates, having a deadline and timeline can sometimes help. Seeing the extent of the task can make it seem less daunting.
• Reduce all distractions - meditate if possible beforehand to quiet the mind. Block the web: Facebook, YouTube etc. Switch off and put away your mobile somewhere inconvenient. Distract the thinking mind with music (works for me). Make sure you're not contactable or can be physically found by people.
• Have a reward system - if you do the task or a bit of the task, then reward yourself with food, coffee, a walk, showering, stretching, a break whatever. Keep the rewards as non-distracting as possible - i.e. they don't take a long time and don't engage the attention too much.
• Have a variety of tasks to work on - you'll probably get bored just working on one thing all day, find a range of different things to do in rotation. This will keep up the focus and stop the mind wandering.

 

[The0Self]

3 hours ago, universe said:

Maybe it's an indicator that what you are currently doing is not what you want to be doing?

^^

And OP, if that's the case, finding out what you DO want to be doing is probably good practice -- but it's something I've struggled with and don't have much of an answer for. Even though it might sound wise to me, and may even help you (or me), it wouldn't be coming from a place of much direct experience or deep understanding.

Edited April 26, 2021 by The0Self