What are some ways you make work fun when you can’t stay focused? I have about 5 hours of work to do today but am unnecessarily dreading it. It’s not hard work, but I just sit at my desk to start, then get bored and then go to something else. Saving a reward for after the tasks doesn’t help (obviously), and I’m wfh which is always hard for me but the office is too far away. Any tips?

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I turn a show on and watch tv while I work if the work allows for that. I’ll buy tickets to a show at a certain time so I have created a deadline. Or I’ll make dinner plans with a group of friends where I’ll have to be done by X time. Deadlines are always my friend. Set a FaceTime appointment with family. Or the one that holds the most weight is to promise my kid to do something very fun later. My kid is ruthless on a missed promise and so I hustle to get my crap done to not suffer the wrath. Deadlines work better for me than rewards. Or if I’m feeling really spicy I’ll email the partner it’s due to and promise to by a deadline. But that one I have to really know I have it in me to finish on time lol.

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I second having the TV show on in the background as white noise. The other thing that helps me, as simple as it sounds, is to just start.
The whole reason I'm dreading the work is because I'm dreading how boring/taxing on my poor executive function it will be. But once I get started, I can usually get into the flow.
So to psych myself into getting started, I aim to *just look* at the work to see what exactly it is that I'm going to have to do/what exactly is it going to entail (kind of like watching a workout video before actually doing the workout). Like, find all the files I think I'm going to need to start, open the emails with instructions/comments, pull up my notes, open the file and start scrolling/skimming, etc.
It feels like less of a commitment if all I'm telling myself to do is just open the file and take a look, and that usually turns out to be half the battle right there. (And actually, a large part of the problem for us *is* an inability to conceptualize breaking the battle down into smaller chunks. It always feels like we have to do the *whole* thing, which is, of course, often overwhelming.) Just tell yourself you're only going to do one small piece of the assignment. Usually, I end up starting to actually *do* the work, and then once I'm already in it, it's not so bad (or actually enjoyable).

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Thank you A2! Great tip for starting and great points.

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Thank you A1! These are helpful. I think for today I can do a show bc the work is not hard. But next week I’m going to try booking something that will charge me a fee if I miss it. I don’t have kids yet but I love the tip about scheduling something with your kid.

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