Hobbies and motivation

• Personal productivity is not about all-round efficiency, and it is wrong to think about your input as that of a machine in a factory unit.
• This is further complicated by our mistaken assumption that being in demand means that we are doing a splendid job.
• We blur our all boundaries between our work and personal life and every minute of the day is to be kept busy as we rush to attend every meeting, cross out every task from the to-do list or to answer every email that we get.

Our brain starts to favour small tasks that give a false impression of productivity (woohoo! I just sent out fifty emails!) while we neglect the large, complex but meaningful tasks.

This is known as the completion bias.

Some theories of motivation claim we're naturally biased. It may happen because we can't consider all the angles. At other times, as the world advance, the usual criteria no longer apply.

There may be only a few exceptional people like Elon Musk because we can't grasp the idea that one person can create wealth or drive progress. We don't notice opportunities and more easily dismiss them.

If you think motivation is mostly rational, pay attention to what motivates you. You might not feel motivated because your current opportunities aren't that good.

If you think motivation is biased and nudging is necessary, create rules, systems, and habits to move you ahead. If you can't motivate yourself for months or years, your project may be at fault.

The most common cause of passive behavior is being unmotivated.

It is a myth that motivation needs to come before action. More often, it is action that leads to motivation. You forced yourself to get in your workout gear and then suddenly felt ready to go. You forced yourself to meet friends and ended having a great time.

Action comes first, then motivation follows. When you feel unmotivated and passive, do something. Motivation and productivity will follow behind.

When your only goal is to make it through the week, you may feel like you spend your life going through the motions with the same tasks week in and week out. It can become very dull. Finding meaningful goals can change all of that.

Meaningful goals can be spread out across all areas of life. Find purposeful goals within the work section of your life. Volunteer for a charity or get involved in other projects. Doing so will inevitably lead you out of passive behavior.

If we look at our dreams and the brain’s capacity to hallucinate, we can see that nothing outside our existence may be real.

Everything could be an illusion, a long dream, and we could be the only person that existed in a world of ‘Maya’. This is what solipsism is all about.

The philosophy of idealism states that reality is something that exists on a mental level, and many or most of our outer experiences could just be imagination.

Whenever you feel like you are spending way too much time on your screen, consider setting clear boundaries: it is not the same to work and to just waste your time by watching things that might even end up increasing your anxiety.

Therefore, try using a separate device for work and personal activities and, the most important, make sure to set a limit to the amount of time spent while checking news on social media.

Whenever you choose to spend your time on checking social media, make sure this is not a wasted time.

So why not trying to learn something useful during the days when you cannot leave your house due to different reasons?

While it can be quite scary, stepping out in the unknown is necessary every now and then.

In order to push your limits, you should consider taking up new challenges that will not only make you experience fear, but most probably also later success into dealing with new and stressful situations. Furthermore, your brain will get trained to form new connections, which can only prove beneficial in the long run.

Recent research has shown that uncertainty scares people even more than knowing that things are going to actually end up badly.

Therefore, in order to be mentally prepared to beat uncertainty, what better way than just imagining the worst case scenario? If it turns out badly, you will at least not be taken by surprise and, if it turns out well, you will be happy.

Marketers use this to nudge us towards buying a certain product or service, providing us with a goal that is almost within our grasp.

Example: When enrolled in a buy ten get one free coffee program, the person who has just one coffee to complete ten, is motivated to buy it as the free coffee is now imminent.

Studies show that if a person is offered a bonus reward or push, he or she is more likely to complete the goal as he has been provided with a further incentive and help to reach a stage where his reward is within his sights.

From the day you start saving, put a reminder on your calendar once a week to work for one hour on your finances in some way. It could include reading, balancing the accounts, optimizing cash flow, researching funds, etc.

There is no right number of times to check on your account. If you feel the urge to make decisions based on the news or market changes, limit how many times you look at your accounts. With experience, you will gain more control.

Once you understand where your money is going and what is left for savings, you may feel demoralised. Even though the amount is small in the first few months, you may be surprised by how much your balance grows in six months or a year.

The power of compound interest is what helps accounts grow exponentially and reach your savings goals quicker.

The things that give us deep happiness are inherently things that take longer and have a big element of meaning in them.

And if the task you have to do doesn’t seem meaningful, try reframing your experience. You might not be able to change what you have to do but you can change how you see it.

When we feel connected to what we’re doing, when we make something our own, we’re much more motivated.

To turn some task you’re handed at the office into something you feel ownership of, make small tweaks that customize what you have to do, that allow you to do it your way.

Forcing yourself to work is like swimming against the current. You'll need a lot of force to get to your destination.

Getting yourself motivated to do the work is like swimming with the current. You'll make use of power that will energize and support you. You'll get to your destination in a completely different mood and perspective.

The most likely reason you feel unmotivated is that you are in a lousy state of mind. It can be caused by various things, like:

• Feeling stressed
• Sleeping in
• Excessive drinking
• Hanging out with unmotivated and unambitious people
• The lack of clear goals & priorities
• Watching a lot of TV or Netflix or scrolling through social media
• Eating bad foods that create energy crashes or a heavy feeling
• Procrastinating

As an antidote, apply a few state change 'hacks' to turn your state of mind.