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Don’t Save Your Fun for the End of the Day
Joy is more than a reward for productivity
We may be used to motivating ourselves with the promise of a reward — grind all day and relax at night, or break for a treat only after finishing a project — but in talking with my therapy clients over the past several months, I’ve found that we simply can’t strong-arm ourselves into productivity when we feel anxious and isolated. The promise of happiness isn’t enough when we need it right this minute.
We shouldn’t wait to reward ourselves with conversations with friends, a walk outside, or a mystery novel. Instead, we should pepper our days with them. We need to build them into our daily schedules and protect them like the life-sustaining measures that they are.
When we incorporate activities into our day that foster curiosity, like exploring a new park, playing a board game, or sitting around the fire pit with a friend, then we direct our mind away from its anxious flailing. And when we can steer away from anxiety, one added benefit is that we give ourselves a chance to do better work.
