How can I understand myself? (Motivation/Discipline)

[Sam Kennedy]

I’m trying to understand myself and how I can be better disciplined/motivated. The question I’m trying to answer is this:

How come I can wake up one day, get straight out of bed, get ready, set myself tasks for the day, stay focused and achieve a lot, then on the very next day sleep in, get distracted constantly, feel unfocused and get very little accomplished? What is the deciding factor that determines how my day will go?

I’ve managed to isolate a few factors which I’ve observed:

- Hydration, whenever I think of the days I’ve been in the best mood and achieved a lot, I’ve also had to use the bathroom a lot
- Sunlight, I tend to be more productive the sunnier the weather, though not always
- Sleep, if I get five hours I am generally really productive but crash hard later in the day, 7-8 is optimal, 9+ and the day is a write off

Can anyone recommend any books or other resources that could better help me understand myself and my motivation? If I can figure out what this “switch” is I could get so much more achieved!

 

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[EVMaso]

Atomic Habits by James Clear is a really good book on how to build and break habits. He goes through some specific actionable advice as well as the logic behind those things to help you understand how and why they work.

I've found the Pomodoro technique is a good way to just hammer stuff out for long stretches at a time without getting burned out or bored. I used it when I was a freelance writer, very useful for that, but it can be applied to many different tasks.

 

[0dysseus]

Just my $0.02: see what you are resisting, where are you going against your body the most.

Example: I kept trying to get up early in the morning, rise and shine, seaze the day, all of that. It only made me miserable since I was constantly failing. I'm talking like years of trying here. No matter what I do or how long I keep going to bed earlier, I always end up in the same place.

After I kinda accepted that often times it just feels more natural and more productive for me to stay up later, things got better. I guess some people are simply night owls, and I am probably one of them. Resistance is futile.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying stay up late. But see if there's something that you are trying hard to avoid, when actually your entire body is leading you there. It may help.

 

[Toolsonfewe]

I'm kinda broken right now and need some motivation....

 

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[The Abundant Man]

I'm kinda broken right now and need some motivation....

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Xua6mGJTo