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Areas › Focus, starting, and ADHD › Bringing the future closer
For anyone helping, this matters even more. When a sensible technique fails, the first question is which part of this person's week it did not fit, not whether they tried hard enough. Keep several options for the same problem and swap between them without ceremony. Some things only work while a job is quiet, or while the children are small, and that is perfectly fine.
'Each community has its own direction to which it turns' (Quran 2:148). Different starting points are taken for granted here, and the same goes for what different people need.
البقرة
وَلِكُلࣲّ وِجۡهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيهَاۖ فَٱسۡتَبِقُواْ ٱلۡخَيۡرَٰتِۚ أَيۡنَ مَا تَكُونُواْ يَأۡتِ بِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ جَمِيعًاۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيۡءࣲ قَدِيرࣱ
Each community has its own direction to which it turns: race to do good deeds and wherever you are, God will bring you together. God has power to do everything
Qur’an 2:148read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
A meta-analysis of 89 studies examined which features of interventions actually shift intention, stage of change and autonomous motivation, and found that particular components matter rather than general effort. Different ingredients do different jobs, which is a fair argument for keeping a few to hand. That work was in physical activity, so the specific ingredients may not transfer whole.
Knittle K, Nurmi J, Crutzen R, Hankonen N, Beattie M, Dombrowski SU. (2018). How can interventions increase motivation for physical activity? A systematic review and meta-analysis.. Health psychology review doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
A strategy is only ever as good as its fit with the life it has to run inside.
A reminder system is not a crutch you should be aiming to throw away. It is closer to a pair of glasses. You wear them because they work, and nobody expects your eyes to improve because you wore them for a year.
Give the later self a name and be a bit silly about it. Is Thursday you going to be furious with Monday you again? Is Thursday you always the one clearing up?
The job will not feel more pleasant on Thursday. It will be the same job, done tired, in less time, with somebody waiting. Later is not the easier option. It only looks that way from here.