How to motivate yourself to do a thing you don't want to do

Why do things you don’t “want” to do?

• Several commenters distinguish between current feelings vs “ultimate” or future preferences: you may not want to exercise or do taxes now, but you want the future outcome (health, avoiding legal trouble, being able to eat).
• Some argue if you ever do it, then on some level you do want it; others point to clear cases (taxes, boring jobs) where it’s obligation, not desire.
• There’s debate over whether procrastination is personal weakness vs a deeper ambivalence or environmental issue.

Framing goals: avoidance vs aspiration

• Framing goals positively (“be strong and light”) is seen as more motivating than avoidance framing (“not weak and overweight”).
• Focusing on consequences of not doing the task can help some; others say this just triggers anxiety or daydreaming.

Motivation, discipline, habits, and environment

• A strong camp says “motivation is unreliable; action and discipline must come first,” often via tiny steps, time-boxing, or “just start” tactics.
• Others emphasize habit formation: make tasks automatic (like brushing teeth), reduce friction (gear ready, do it first thing in the morning), and integrate effort into daily life (active commuting, sports with kids).
• Environment tweaks (removing distractions, blocking apps, cleaning the desk) help some but are not sufficient alone.

Rewards, “dopamine stacking,” and enjoyment

• The article’s suggestion to pair unpleasant tasks with entertainment (music, shows) is criticized by some as “dopamine stacking” that could raise your baseline and reduce intrinsic motivation.
• Others push back: listening to music while working or exercising is framed as normal distraction or focus aid, not pathological.
• There’s disagreement over using food rewards (e.g., donuts after workouts), with a long tangent on whether exercise can “offset” high-calorie foods and whether fitness vs weight loss should be the primary aim.

ADHD and neurodiversity

• Multiple participants with ADHD say standard motivation tips rarely work; their problem is executive dysfunction, not lack of desire.
• Analogies like “you’d do it for $100M” are criticized as ableist and unrealistic; exceptional incentives don’t generalize to daily life.
• Advice: treat neurotypical productivity advice skeptically, consider medical/psychological help, and recognize energy limits.

Concrete strategies and workarounds

• Common tactics:
  • Break tasks into very small, “crappy first pass” chunks.
  • Use structured procrastination: do task A to avoid even worse task B.
  • Enlist social pressure (buddies, public commitments, events).
  • Allow yourself to “do nothing but the task” (or literally nothing) until boredom makes the task preferable.
• Some suggest simply not doing certain tasks and accepting consequences, or re-examining whether they align with one’s real values.

Skepticism and meta-discussion

• Some dismiss generic self-help as interchangeable with AI-generated advice and recommend seeing professionals for persistent issues.
• There’s criticism of long personal anecdotes in blog posts and of online “motivation” creators who must constantly produce borderline-pop science content.