Don’t Save Your Fun for the End of the Day

Joy is more than a reward for productivity

Photo: fizkes/Getty Images

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…