About: Do something which is no fun then reward yourself.

[stef]

Hi all there,

I hope this is about CBT even if there seems to be no distorted thought (at least not directly).

What about when a therapist gives the patient the following homework (to overcome procrastination i.e.): do something you don't feel like doing, then reward yourself by ... whatever you feel like having or doing.

First of all I never understood why one should feel compelled in doing something they don't feel like doing to get a reward, when they can gratify themselves with the very same reward without doing the unwanted activity at all.

Then, isn't this an insult to one's intelligence? As a matter of fact - the patient is asked to play a trick on him/herself!

Thanks for any observation/remark.

Stef

 

[Always Changing]

The point of the exercise\homework given is to Overcome procrastination, which is exactly what you are doing right now, imho. .

As a matter of fact - the patient is asked to play a trick on him/herself!

If by doing this often enough one gets to the end result,, IE overcomes procrastination then the end justifies the means.
I would not call it playing tricks on yourself, I would prefer to call it training.

 

[H011yHawkJ311yBean]

It's how you break a habit. I used to chew the heck out of my fingernails.... I figured out that my fingernails would break or get those irritating rough edges and chew and sometimes I would just chew because I was a nervous wreck. So I started to carry around an emery board and instead of chewing I would file.... It saved my poor raw cuticles.

I have to do lots of things I can't stand doing, but they have to be done. So get off my butt and do them. Man I can't wait for my vacation to start this Sunday. I really don't want to do things I don't want to do either.... 8(
Like drag my butt to a job I used to love and clean a house I have barely any energy to clean. Especially when it's so beautiful outside. lol It's called forcing yourself. I'm thinking of my vacation time as a well-earned reward...

So think of doing unpleasant things as "work" and reward yourself with "play." That's what I do. I also find that playing music really loud helps make the time seem to go faster, and it's more fun to sing and dance a little while doing housework. Also if it's strenuous work, think of all the calories you'll burn...

 

[stef]

The point of the exercise\homework given is to Overcome procrastination, which is exactly what you are doing right now, imho. .

Uh? I overcome procastination by publishing a post?

I would not call it playing tricks on yourself, I would prefer to call it training.

You can also call it training, indeed but nevertheless, it is a training where you are trained in how you can persuading yourself that you cannot get the reward until you accomplish the undesided task - which is untrue as a matter of fact. In other words, it's a training where you learn how to trick your mind into a false assumption. For good, of course, but always a trick is, as I see it.

 

[Daniel E.]

I also find that playing music really loud helps make the time seem to go faster, and it's more fun to sing and dance a little while doing housework.

And for cognitive tasks, playing music or something else in the background may help with attention as well:

"People's minds tend to wander," he said. "Even if you're in a perfectly silent room with no outside distracters, there's still going to be an internal distracter. Thoughts pop up - the party this weekend, or how you're going to do in this class."

Much of Christman's research deals with the differences between the right and left hemispheres of the brain.

"The left hemisphere seems to be the best at generating sustained attention, aka concentration. The right side is in charge of the complementary attentional role, which is attending to novel things in your environment, like fire alarms and people calling your name," Christman said.

Understanding this split between the right and left hemispheres is essential to solving the problem of the wandering mind, he said.

"If I'm doing a task that's very left hemisphere ... that means my right hemisphere doesn't have much to do and it gets bored," Christman said. "I find that if I have music going in the background while my left hemisphere is consciously concentrating on the work I'm doing, my right hemisphere can just kind of enjoy itself by listening to the music."

Londyn Jackson, a freshman majoring in political science, agrees music is the gateway to concentration.

"It's all music," Jackson said. "Without music, I couldn't concentrate."

Although he recommends music as a way to entertain the right hemisphere and keep it from wandering, Christman was careful to point out not all music is suitable for studying.

"I would recommend not listening to music that is overly engaging - stuff that is in your face like 'Oh, listen to me; I'm really complicated and interesting,'" he said. "The music they play in shopping malls and restaurants [is ideal]."

Christman said students should save their favorite songs for times when they can give their full, undivided attention. Christman said he would never listen to the songs on his work playlist while he was at home...

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/psycholo...-health/14418-the-psychology-of-studying.html

 

[stef]

It's how you break a habit. I used to chew the heck out of my fingernails.... I figured out that my fingernails would break or get those irritating rough edges and chew and sometimes I would just chew because I was a nervous wreck. So I started to carry around an emery board and instead of chewing I would file.... It saved my poor raw cuticles.

This is good: you replace a bad habit with a better one. My example is still different though: one is not asked to replace a bad habit for a good one but to add new habits (those you normally postpone) and limit other habits (enjoyable activities) to a certain timeframe (after having finished the new habit).

It's correct - as you also say - that you are asked to force yourself but not-being-able-to-force-oneself is normally the reason you go to psycoteraphy. I mean: by going into teraphy, you expect something else/more than what you have already tried yourself without success.

I also find that playing music really loud helps make the time seem to go faster, and it's more fun to sing and dance a little while doing housework. Also if it's strenuous work, think of all the calories you'll burn...

This is also good: adding an enjoyable task to an otherwise totally unpleasant activity. Still a different situation, though.

 

[Daniel E.]

As a matter of fact - the patient is asked to play a trick on him/herself!

I would call it fighting fire with fire. The mind plays a boatload of tricks of its own. The "user illusion" that allows self-consciousness is possibly its most elaborate:

Although we are unaware of it, our brains sift through and discard billions of pieces of data in order to allow us to understand the world around us. In fact, most of what we call thought is actually the unconscious discarding of information...What our consciousness rejects constitutes the most valuable part of ourselves. No wonder that, in this age of information, so many of us feel empty and dissatisfied.

The User Illusion

isn't this an insult to one's intelligence?

I don't think so, and chances are you do it already to some degree. For example, for a lot of people like myself, even checking e-mail is a reward:

Give yourself a time or activity reward following each solid hour of learning activity. Take ten minutes to kick back to reflect and relax, or to have a cup of coffee or to check your email. That can keep your learning efficiency up.

Preventing Procrastination Part Two: Learn to Stop Procrastinating | Psychology Today

So just the act of taking a mind-refreshing break, even after doing a task you love, can be rewarding. Similarly, in positive psychology, they really like the term "savoring." So at the end of the day or whatever, just reviewing what you have accomplished can be rewarding:

"The frequency of one's positive affect is a stronger predictor of overall level of happiness than is the intensity of one's positive affect...Increasing the total number of savoring episodes one has will boost overall happiness more than simply intensifying enjoyment while one is in a savoring episode."

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/positive...vacation-exercise-for-proactive-savoring.html

The good thing about procrastination is that the hardest part is just getting started. So once you get started, it's downhill from there. And the challenge is to keep re-starting after taking breaks, etc.

My favorite author on procrastination is Neil Fiore, e.g. The Now Habit, which is available in many or most libraries. There is an audio version of most of his books, so I sometimes listen to them while working.

---------- Post added at 11:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 AM ----------

So think of doing unpleasant things as "work" and reward yourself with "play."

And to reiterate that point: For a lot of procrastinators, there isn't much play in their lives, especially since many distracting activities, e.g. Facebook, are more like junk food for the brain than something more satisfying like being outdoors or socializing in person. So one method is the "unschedule" method where one schedules fun and recreational activities for the week ahead.

 

[stef]

For a lot of procrastinators, there isn't much play in their lives, especially since many distracting activities, e.g. Facebook, are more like junk food for the brain than something more satisfying like being outdoors or socializing in person.

I cannot but agree with you but for many procastinators (and others!) that "junk food" is enjoyment. Who are we to judge and dismiss others fun activities, being it facebook or the latest videogame?

IMO, The reasons why procastinators do not have much play in their life instead is because they are in their loop of being worried, anxious and of feeling guilty as they do not do what they are supposed to do therefore they do not get out to make up for the wasted time but they still do not make up and so on...

Back to your post Daniel, thanks for your contribution.

I have a question: in your experience or according to cbt literature, how long does it take and/or how many conscious challenges one needs to take - in the main - in order to reverse an old bad habit into an healthy one? I know statistics are..a challenge here but I make my question anyhow.

cheers

 

[Daniel E.]

I remember reading this 2 years ago:

Don't believe everything you read. You may have found precise numbers stated about just how often you need to do something to make a new, good habit -- and just how often you need to not do something to break an old bad habit. Some say three weeks! Some say 30 days!

Don't count on it. "There is no data on this," says Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Md. She predicts that the time will vary for people to establish a new habit, because some fall easily into routines and others don't. Likewise, your circumstances and stage of life will probably influence your ability to break a routine.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/coping-strategies/18182-tips-on-breaking-bad-habits.html