Motivation stimulation method (old school)

Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we need to do something, but we can’t convince ourselves to do this. And the deadlines are running out. Every time we try to sit down and focus on work, thoughts run up and nothing can be done about it.
Of course, you can force yourself, but this does not guarantee that in this way we will work as productively as possible and without distraction. So we are arranged - one half of us is constantly unhappy. For example, when in the morning we hear an alarm, we have a choice: we can please our responsible half, get together and go to work. In this case, the half responsible for comfort will protest all the way, and even at work will begin to bother with whining. Alternatively, we can ignore the alarm. Then the half responsible for comfort will be overjoyed, but the responsible part of us will wake up and protest. For complete harmony, you have to compromise.
In this case, psychology can come to the rescue. This is a more flexible and effective way than simple self-persuasion. There are a number of “about psychological” methods on this subject, some of NLP, time management, but I prefer building school methods.
The whole charm of such methods is that they do not feature any tinsel like visualization on paper, a to-do list or diaries. The latter in some situations really make our life easier, but not when the only thing that seems to be left to do is simply force ourselves to get down to business. But not everyone can in any situation just like that say to himself, "Get up and go!". It is for such people that this topic is mainly written.

This method, after which the post is named, works directly and without intermediaries. This is a kind of auto-training or self-hypnosis. There is nothing superfluous and distracting in him. And most importantly - with proper use, it does not create the illusion of motivation, nor some other deception, but rather the very motivation, self-confidence. Some sports teams even have a full-time psychologist who conducts such sessions. But it applies not only to sports. In particular, I will describe its application for working with motivation for solving problems (of course, those tasks that really require this).
To begin with, you need to achieve a certain state of consciousness, or in Russian, calm down and relax. We take a comfortable body position (you can lie on the sofa), close our eyes and relax (concentrate on breathing and all that). When the head clears up noticeably, we begin to imagine how we will solve our problem. Consistency is important here, details, images, movements are important.
Suppose we need to sit down at a computer and write an article (program) or something else. We start with the fact that (with eyes closed) we imagine the environment: the walls of the room, pay attention to their color, texture, some interior items. Then we get closer to the workplace - imagine how we are already sitting at the table. We focus on the position of our body, the sensations that will arise when we sit down. Then we will present those objects that will be in sight: the size-color-shape of the table, all the nonsense that he is littered with, then the computer itself. Part by part, we first draw the periphery, the monitor. Now switch to the interface. We reproduce in the imagination with cinematic accuracy (the closer to it, the better) the necessary preparatory operations (opening an editor, etc.). That's all for now.
This, so to speak, is the preparatory stage. Consider what for what is needed. Noticed that we start with the general (room) and end with the private? Thus, we smoothly focus our attention on the goal, reproducing all the actions in order. This prevents the subconscious from taking us aside, since these small sequential transitions (room-table-computer) are quite simple. We just imagine how we will approach the workplace and begin to work. Thus, the subconscious (cache of our processor) is filled with consistent and fairly detailed information.
Due to the fact that this information is logical and consistent with reality, its subconscious, as they say, is hawl, does not protest. And due to the fact that it is detailed, it is filled with her, her details, and not with any distracting garbage.
So the main thing in the preparatory phase is: first to clear the subconscious as much as possible, then gradually and consistently fill it with the details of the working environment. Remember the main thing - when you are already “drawing” a computer in your head, you don’t need to continue rendering walls - the cache is not rubber. It is necessary to focus attention on the goal itself (the picture on the monitor in this case). But the more details directly related to the work that will be in sight - the better, but this is secondary.
So, we begin the second stage. I must say it is much more complicated than the first. Now that we have the whole environment in our heads (our eyes are still closed), it is time to shape our internal environment. We begin to gradually remember what information we need. For example, when a billiard player is trained by such a technique, such information is the strike technique: sight, stand, bridge, cue movement. In our situation, it’s a little more complicated, because in this case, consciousness is involved in the work to a greater extent than in sport.
What kind of information can this be? If we need to write an article, then this may be the topic, purpose, reason for writing. If the main content has not yet been thought out, but there are already some ideas, then you can first recall the situation when they arose, and then reflect on the ideas themselves, detail them. If you don’t remember the situation, then you can simply try to develop them by imagining that ideas are a constructor. First, we have one detail, and then, relying on intuition, you try to build up the details so that they fit together as needed. In other words, to begin with, imagine the solution to your problem, only the solution, not the process itself.
Next is the simulation of the actions themselves. For example, in a car race, a person must imagine how he will drive along the highway, enter turns, turn the steering wheel, change gears and everything from the first person perspective. That is, when you specifically know what you should do, then you begin to experience these actions in your head in real time (you can even drive in the air with your hand, depicting mouse movements, if you are alone in the room :) If you are a programmer, then you must visually imagine how the program code will appear block by block on the screen.
Consider what this gives us. To begin with, we filled our short-term memory (RAM) with information related to solving the problem. Thus, we mentally (eyes must be closed!) Created a complete working environment in the head. Since at this point we have already circled the subconscious mind around the finger and it is only occupied by obediently keeping the simulation of sensations in the workplace, it does not prevent us from gradually loading the RAM, it is gradually.
Now we are ready for the virtual execution of the work itself. At this stage, the subconscious mind also should not interfere, since a fairly accurate copy of the work environment has been created, which is familiar to the subconscious mind, which in turn does not differ in quick wits. It’s the same as a guard dog, which took the burglar, which distracted her from eating tasty bones, for the owner and continued to engage in her dessert.
And now the most important thing. When we scroll through the execution of work in the head, we achieve two effects at once. First - we gain experience, albeit virtual, but in many ways it cannot be distinguished from real and, in any case, better than others. The second - despite the fact that we represent everything in the first person, at some points we can (involuntarily) glance at the process from the outside, which is undoubtedly useful.
In the end, when we are already realistically approaching the task, we will have a strong feeling that we have already done this, there will be a fresh memory of all the feelings that accompany the whole process, and there will be self-confidence. They say that the experience obtained in this way is unique (has unique details), it can not be obtained in any other way. They also say that such an experience is better than doing the same task (if it is more or less the same type) in reality. This is partly due to the fact that we ourselves manage the process, its speed, we can slow down something, rewind. In analogy with billiards, it is better to hammer a ball in your thoughts once than several times at a real table (of course, if you have the necessary knowledge and experience in order to present everything in detail).
In conclusion, I will say that the main thing here is to consistently and conscientiously follow the rules that I have outlined and present everything as detailed as possible. And the process itself will take 5-10 minutes, maybe a little more - it depends on the task.