All work and no play truly does Jack a dull boy... or worse... as Jack Torrance reminds us in a movie reference you should get... an exciting boy in all the wrong ways.
On the other hand... all play and ...no work just makes Jack fat... drunk... and stupid... and that as Dean Wormer made clear in another reference you should get...
“Is no way to go through life son.”
Now let me share with you my theory... and the theory of ever... “top flight”... psychologist... and REAL.. “personal development”... coach... and not those... “new age”... fluffy cloud... woo woo types?
In your conscious mind... you know that you need to work hard to get great at anything... and you know that delayed gratification is a great virtue of the ambitious... so your unconscious mind... persuaded... plays along.
Animal-obsessed as we are with only more pleasure... and less pain... you convince it that pleasure will be greater in the end... problem is... it turns out that success is more elusive than you have planned... Work is followed by more work... and delaying pleasure becomes a habit.
Consciously... you are proud of that... even addicted... on the more basic level though... your animal unconscious self rebels... this is not what I signed up for it says... where is all that pleasure you promised?
And suddenly it rebels... you find yourself WANTING to be productive... yet wasting your time web surfing... watching Netflix... raiding the fridge... or tweeting... and Face-booking your friends to tell them how ungodly busy you are... instead... the mind is such a good liar.
Soon you are up all night working... not because you are getting a lot done... and because even though you would like to... you are not... against your good intentions... you have become exactly the kind of unproductive slob you hate... and you are not even good at it.
Yes... if you are wondering... I have been there too.
What to do about it?
Here Is What I Recommend And The Solution Is Simple
Have more fun now... stop delaying gratification... try to make the gap between hard work... and rewarding pleasure as small as possible... you have to reward yourself... and your unconscious... so that it knows that motivation... and hard work directly equates to pleasure... and fun here... and now!
Most people.. when you really dig into their mind... have five-year goals... I have some... And they are broken down into smaller goals... with rewards!
Yet... when I coach men... and women... the thinking is...
“Aka... “when I make it big THEN I will start living the life I want to”... plans... this is broken thinking.
A big shiny goal in your distant future will motivate a newbe who is full fervour... and vigour... who has not experienced any hard knocks... or reality checks yet... and if you are a jaded veteran... you need something more...
I suggest you start with a 45 minute loop... work hard for 45 minutes... then go do something you really love for 30 minutes... go have fun... show your unconscious mind the rewards it can get when it gives you access to the motivation juice.
You will soon be very productive... and GETTING THINGS DONE!
So in a word... BALANCE!
Balance between... GETTING IT DONE... and GETTING SOME FUN!
And you mind... and your animal will get along just fine.
I used to work 16 hours a day easy... yes I was very productive... and also getting... bored... distracted... and then unproductive.
So I changed... and developed a time management system... where I plan in ME time... HIGH QUALITY... Me time... with rewards.
Now I work less hours... and I am twice more productive... and I go PLAY!
May You Enjoy A Prosperous And Productive Fun Day!
Yours Sincerely
Ange Fonce
