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by fool1987 1279 days ago
Environment makes a huge difference for me: recently bought myself one of those SAD lamps and switched to working 08:00-16:00 rather than 09:00-17:00 and my general mood has increased 10x; leading to a significant productivity/motivation boost.

I'm not saying that a new lamp will fix your problems but try to be mindful of your working environment and conditions and see what changes you can make to make yourself generally more comfortable.

Other examples include finding a way to further compartmentalise your work, for instance by becoming uncontactable on your work channels outside of work hours.

Further, improve your general health: drink more water and less coffee, make sure you see the sun for at least half an hour a day, take vitamins, socialise more, do more exercise; all the usual health-nutjob advice in as large a dose as you can stand - all of these things have tangible effects on mood which is a huge player in motivation.

You said sleep has a big impact so try getting really strict about your bed time and waking up on time. Try anything and everything and don't be put off when 90% of the new habits you try to cultivate don't stick. You'll figure out what is important to maintaining your mental health by experimentation and observation.

Concentrated mindfulness and a rigid attitude towards work/life separation have done more for my executive dysfunction than any revolutionary to-do list app or task organising framework.