How to get yourself hooked to something?

[Castaras]

I have... over 2 months of free time now to do whatever the hell I want.

The problem I've got is... I have so much I *could* do, and lots of stuff I enjoy doing... but my attention span is bollocks. Except when I get addicted / hooked to something.

So my question is... how do you get hooked to something? What is it about an activity or project that gets you addicted so that you stay with it for a while?

[Artemician]

Ego.

When not doing something involves a real loss of prestige on my part, I do find I work harder. Eg: For my Bass playing, the addition of a junior that I felt bad being outshadowed by pushed me to practise more. Likewise for creative writing.

It doesn't need to be a junior - peer pressure can work as well. Go around telling all your friends that you're going to do something and that you really intend to do well, so that you know that if you don't work hard they'll tease you.

[Crimmy]

So my question is... how do you get hooked to something? What is it about an activity or project that gets you addicted so that you stay with it for a while?


My own self problem.

My answer is to challenge yourself, to make yourself do something.

Nothing better than challenging yourself.

[randman22222]

Entirely subjective, and that said, I can only get hooked on things I've got an interest in already. The thing I do, then, to manipulate myself into working more, is trick myself into becoming interested in something. Mostly I do that by making it relevant to... to what my personality, in its most fundamental levels, is interested in. To how I think. Not the easiest thing to explain. :smallconfused:

[DamnedIrishman]

I have... over 2 months of free time now to do whatever the hell I want.

The problem I've got is... I have so much I *could* do, and lots of stuff I enjoy doing... but my attention span is bollocks. Except when I get addicted / hooked to something.

So my question is... how do you get hooked to something? What is it about an activity or project that gets you addicted so that you stay with it for a while?

Wear a nicotine patch whenever you're doing it.

It's a difficult thing to force without resorting to drug addictions and Pavlovian training techniques. Plus, it also depends on what you want to get hooked on. Providing such information might help tailor the advice to your situation and make it useful rather than just vague.

[Castaras]

Wear a nicotine patch whenever you're doing it.

It's a difficult thing to force without resorting to drug addictions and Pavlovian training techniques. Plus, it also depends on what you want to get hooked on. Providing such information might help tailor the advice to your situation and make it useful rather than just vague.

It's not really me asking how to get addicted to one thing... I have many many projects I could get involved with if needbe. It's just me looking for strategies to get my attention span to hold onto something meaningful for more than 1-2 hours, rather than me concentrating all my energies on stupid little flash games on facebook.

[DamnedIrishman]

It's not really me asking how to get addicted to one thing... I have many many projects I could get involved with if needbe. It's just me looking for strategies to get my attention span to hold onto something meaningful for more than 1-2 hours, rather than me concentrating all my energies on stupid little flash games on facebook.

'Meaningful' is an illusion.
Getting hooked on a project is simple: you start at it, and either you find it interesting and keep going with it or you don't. Is your problem your short attention span or just not getting going in the first place?

[Castaras]

Both. It's not knowing where to start, or starting and giving up on it at best an hour later.

The first problem is up to me to sort out. It's the second problem I'm not sure what to do about.

[randman22222]

'Meaningful' is an illusion.
Getting hooked on a project is simple: you start at it, and either you find it interesting and keep going with it or you don't. Is your problem your short attention span or just not getting going in the first place?

Like I said previously, it is subjective. Certainly, for me, and for a good portion of people I know, it's based on interest, but I've been able to goad my interest in certain ways, like I also mentioned before. That, I think, may be able to help Cast out.

[Pyrian]

Both. It's not knowing where to start, or starting and giving up on it at best an hour later.

The first problem is up to me to sort out. It's the second problem I'm not sure what to do about.What works best for me is measuring progress. For example, recently I've been sewing velcro onto fake leaves. I need to do about 120 of them, and so far I've done 50. Somehow, that knowledge makes it much easier for me to conceive of continuing onwards.

[snoopy13a]

So my question is... how do you get hooked to something? What is it about an activity or project that gets you addicted so that you stay with it for a while?

I think some things that might work are:

1) Try to plan ahead and schedule the activity. For example, if you plan on going bicyling (random example) at 8 AM, you would have a better chance of following through then if you just thought: "Maybe I'll ride my bicylce tomorrow"

2) Try to get out of the house if the activity permits it. If you're outside the house, you'll have fewer distractions. This is a huge reason why people join gyms instead of purchasing home workout equipment.

3) Try to join a group that shares your interest. Suppose you want to get into knitting (another random example). Joining a knitting club will have you go to regular meetings and may encourage you to spend more time knitting than if you were doing it alone.

[Flame of Anor]

You could try World of Warcraft. I hear it's very addictive.

[Faulty]

The problem I've got is... I have so much I *could* do, and lots of stuff I enjoy doing... but my attention span is bollocks. Except when I get addicted / hooked to something.

Same thing with me. Do you do a lot of mental stuff? Ex: reading, video games, etc. Try some house work or physical labour, it might improve your attention span. Otherwise, just absorb as much as you can until something sticks.

[Illiterate Scribe]

Get a million audiobooks, and do some sort of manual labour while listening to them.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

So my question is... how do you get hooked to something? What is it about an activity or project that gets you addicted so that you stay with it for a while?

1. Wear harness
2. Attach rope to harness
3. Attach hook to other end of rope
4. Attach hook to object
5. ???
6. Profit